Solar-driven interfacial evaporation has emerged as an innovative and sustainable technology for clean water production. The rational fabrication of monolithic three-dimensional (3D) steam generators has accordingly become a topic of growing interest. However, the existing porous and hydrophilic 3D scaffolds (aerogels, hydrogels and sponges/foams) are constructed via conventional processing techniques (sol–gel and template-assisted methods), which remain one of the main roadblocks toward mass and large-scale applications. Herein, a closed-cell 3D polymer foam is developed via a controlled gas-foaming technique and applied as a monolithic interfacial steam generator for the first time. Taking advantage of the numerous gas pockets separated by reticulated and hydrophilic nanofibers that are made from polymeric composites, the foam has ultralight weight, low thermal conductivity and efficient water diffusion. Gratifyingly, the device attains a high water evaporation rate of 2.7 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ under one sun and is among the best-performing interfacial steam generators reported to date and surpasses a majority of 3D sponges/foams used in solar evaporation applications. This work demonstrates one of the few interfacial steam generators that integrate a variety of intriguing properties (i.e., self-floating, light-to-heat conversion, structural durability, anti-overturning and anti-biofouling) into a monolithic polymer foam for high-performance solar evaporation in natural environments.

Green tides caused by Ulva prolifera occur annually in the Yellow Sea, potentially influencing the marine microorganisms. Here, we focused on the variations in marine bacterial and archaeal communities during an U. prolifera green tide in coastal Qingdao areas with Illumina high-throughput sequencing analysis. Our results revealed that the diversity and structure of bacterial and archaeal communities, as well as the organization and structure of microbial co-occurrence networks, varied during the green tide. The decline phase may be favorable to the bacterial and archaeal diversity and richness. The bacterial community, as well as the archaeal community, showed clear variations between the outbreak and decline phases. A simpler and less connected microbial co-occurrence network was observed during the outbreak phase compared with the decline phase. Flavobacteriales and Rhodobacterales separately dominated the bacterial community during the outbreak and decline phase, and Marine Group II (MGII) dominated the archaeal community during the green tide. Combined with microbial co-occurrence network analysis, Flavobacteriales, Rhodobacterales and MGII may be important organisms during the green tide. Temperature, chlorophyll a content and salinity may have an important impact on the variations in bacterial and archaeal communities during the green tide.

The abundant and widespread unicellular cyanobacteria Synechococcus plays an important role in contributing to global phytoplankton primary production. In the present study, two novel cyanomyoviruses, S-N03 and S-H34 that infected Synechococcus MW02, were isolated from the coastal waters of the Yellow Sea. S-N03 contained a 167,069-bp genome comprising double-stranded DNA with a G + C content of 50.1%, 247 potential open reading frames and 1 tRNA; S-H34 contained a 167,040-bp genome with a G + C content of 50.1%, 246 potential open reading frames and 5 tRNAs. These two cyanophages contain fewer auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) than other previously isolated cyanophages. S-H34 in particular, is currently the only known cyanomyovirus that does not contain any AMGs related to photosynthesis. The absence of such common AMGs in S-N03 and S-H34, their distinct evolutionary history and ecological features imply that the energy for phage production might be obtained from other sources rather than being strictly dependent on the maintenance of photochemical ATP under high light. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the two isolated cyanophages clustered together and had a close relationship with two other cyanophages of low AMG content. Comparative genomic analysis, habitats and hosts across 81 representative cyanomyovirus showed that cyanomyovirus with less AMGs content all belonged to Synechococcus phages isolated from eutrophic waters. The relatively small genome size and high G + C content may also relate to the lower AMG content, as suggested by the significant correlation between the number of AMGs and G + C%. Therefore, the lower content of AMG in S-N03 and S-H34 might be a result of viral evolution that was likely shaped by habitat, host, and their genomic context. The genomic content of AMGs in cyanophages may have adaptive significance and provide clues to their evolution.

High-performance semitransparent polymer solar cells were demonstrated for synergistic control of solar energy generation on water bodies and algal growth in diverse aquatic habitats.