Interfacial solar evaporation using biomass: Environmental impact, financial feasibility, and a bibliometric perspective
Maryam Nooman AlMallahi, Mohamed Y.E. Selim, Mahmoud Elgendi
Abstract
Interfacial solar evaporation (ISE) has emerged as a promising solution for addressing global water scarcity challenges, with significant advancements made over the past decade. Despite its widespread adoption, ISE still faces substantial limitations concerning fabrication costs, environmentally friendly materials, biodegradability, and scalability. Biomass-based evaporators have gained attention due to their low cost and sustainability. However, reviews on biomass-based evaporators focus on material type, structure, and thermal performance. This paper reviews biomass-based evaporators based on their benefits, life cycle assessment, and economic evaluations. This review summarizes existing ISE studies, followed by a bibliometric analysis highlighting the rise of biomass-based evaporators, key contributors, and emerging research themes. Next, it analyzes life cycle and economic evaluations, compares costs per square meter, and addresses challenges and future opportunities for large-scale use. The publication counts on biomass-based evaporators peaked in 2024. Chemical Engineering Journal, Desalination, and ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces led with 20 publications each. China dominated with 12,848 citations across 275 publications, followed by the United States with 2735 citations and 25 publications. While biomass-based evaporator species may vary in structure, they possess unique characteristics, such as high porosity and low thermal conductivity, which benefits ISE. The life cycle analysis underscores the potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by integrating biomass-based evaporators, with studies indicating a reduction of up to 82 % compared to other materials used. Also, in the economic analysis, the cotton-based fabric evaporator demonstrated a cost of 2.23 $/m 2 and achieved a water evaporation rate of 1.54 kg/m 2 h for 3.5 wt% NaCl solution under 1 sun. This review contributes to ongoing efforts to find potential solutions for water scarcity while minimizing environmental impacts and economic costs.