Born in the US in 2010, I came to Suzhou when I was little. Renowned as a lovely water city, it features peaceful water lanes and stunning traditional gardens, becoming my second hometown.
My parents shape me greatly. They help me stay confident and outgoing. I’m really into technological innovation and love diving into tech-related exploration. Their love and encouragement always push me to keep learning, experimenting and pursuing my dreams in this field.
Remote islands often face chronic freshwater shortages due to the lack of natural freshwater resources, limited infrastructure, and vulnerability to extreme weather events. Although existing desalination technologies can effectively produce freshwater, they typically rely on substantial energy input, complex equipment, and centralized facilities, limiting their applicability in small and remote island settings. In this study, discarded polyvinyl chloride (PVC) waste was transformed into a photothermal gel evaporator through a simple solvothermal process. During the reaction, conjugated structures and hydrophilic functional groups were simultaneously generated, endowing the material with efficient solar-energy harvesting and water-transport capabilities. The resulting evaporator exhibited a high evaporation rate of 1.489 kg m-2 h-1 under one-sun irradiation, with a solar-to-vapor efficiency of 93.6%. By adopting a three-dimensional…
