Low-cost and washable resistive switching (RS) memory devices with stable retention and low operational voltage are important for higher speed and denser non-volatile memories. In the case of green electronics, pectin has emerged as a suitable alternative to toxic metal oxides for resistive switching applications. Herein, a pectin-based thin film was fabricated on a fluorine-doped tin oxide glass substrate for RS mechanism. The presence of sp³–C groups with low binding energy corresponds to tunable charged defects and the oxygen vacancies confirmed by the O 1s spectra that plays a decisive role in the resistive switching mechanism, as revealed by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). The surface morphology of the pectin film shows homogeneous growth and negligible surface roughness (38.98 ± 9.09). The pectin film can dissolve in DI water (10 minutes) owing to its ionization of carboxylic groups, that meet the trends of transient electronics. The developed Ag/pectin/FTO-based memory cell exhibits stable and reproducible bipolar resistive switching behavior along with an excellent ON/OFF ratio (10⁴) and negligible electrical degradation was observed over 30 repeated cycles. Hence, it appears to be a valuable application for green electronics. Indeed, biocompatible storage devices derived from natural pectin are promising for high-density safe applications for information storage systems, flexible electronics, and green electronics.

Harvesting solar energy for efficient photothermal conversion and steam generation over solar evaporators is particularly significant in the context of comprehensive solar utilization toward solving the global shortage of fresh water. Herein, a flexible Ni-based metal–organic framework composite (NMC) with hierarchical structures is constructed as a photothermal material for solar steam-generation devices. Besides, a phase change material (PCM)-based thermal storage pack is incorporated into the solar evaporator to overcome the solar radiation intermittency. By virtue of the synergistic effect of the promising 3D structure and excellent water transport, the NMC-PCM evaporator possesses an outstanding evaporation performance (2.55 kg m⁻² h⁻¹) under 1 sun irradiation. More strikingly, owing to the enhanced light-to-heat performance as well as large heat storage capacity, the proposed evaporator achieves a high water-evaporation rate of 1.46 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ without sunlight irradiation. This work opens up opportunities to realize excellent energy capture for solar-driven clean water production and solar thermal storage not only under sunlight incidence but also in no light environment.

Clean water scarcity is still an intense, prolonged global issue that needs to be resolved urgently. The solar steam generation has shown great potential with a high energy conversion efficiency for clean water production from seawater and wastewater. However, the high evaporation rate of water cannot be preserved due to the inevitable fouling of solar absorbers. Herein, a self-floatable and super hydrophilic solar-driven steam generator composed of activated carbon coated melamine foam (ACM). The deposited ACM photothermal layer exhibits outstanding solar absorption (92%) and an efficient evaporation rate of 1.27 kg m⁻² h⁻¹, along with excellent photothermal conversion efficiency (80%) as compared to commercially available primitive solar stills. The open porous assembly of melamine foam equipped with 80% flexibility (0.8 MPa) enabled smooth water transport and sustain heat accumulation within the matrix. The thermal insulation of ACM is 10 times greater than pure water. Moreover, open porous assembly of designed solar-powered steam generator rejects salt ions as well as volatile organic compounds efficiently. The low-cost and facile fabrication of photothermal based water production presents a potential solution to single step drinking water supply from various resources of the sea, the lakes and mixtures of emulsified oil and industrial wastewater.

Water scarcity has emerged as an intense global threat to humanity and needs prompt attention from the scientific community. Solar-driven interfacial evaporation and seawater desalination are promising strategies to resolve the primitive water shortage issue using renewable resources. However, the fragile solar thermal devices, complex fabricating techniques, and high cost greatly hinder extensive solar energy utilization in remote locations. Herein, we report the facile fabrication of a cost-effective solar-driven interfacial evaporator and seawater desalination system composed of carbon cloth (CC)-wrapped polyurethane foam (CC@PU). The developed solar evaporator had outstanding photo-thermal conversion efficiency (90%) with a high evaporation rate (1.71 kg m⁻² h⁻¹). The interfacial layer of black CC induced multiple incident rays on the surface allowing the excellent solar absorption (92%) and intensifying heat localization (67.37 °C) under 1 kW m⁻² with spatially defined hydrophilicity to facilitate the easy vapor escape and validate the efficacious evaporation structure using extensive solar energy exploitation for practical application. More importantly, the long-term evaporation experiments with minimum discrepancy under seawater conditions endowed excellent mass change (15.24 kg m⁻² in consecutive 8 h under 1 kW m⁻² solar irradiations) and promoted its operational sustainability for multi-media rejection and self-dissolving potential (3.5 g NaCl rejected from CC@PU surface in 210 min). Hence, the low-cost and facile fabrication of CC@PU-based interfacial evaporation structure showcases the potential for enhanced solar-driven interfacial heat accumulation for freshwater production with simultaneous salt rejection.

Solar-driven evaporation technology is often used in areas with limited access to clean water, as it provides a low-cost and sustainable method of water purification. Avoiding salt accumulation is still a substantial challenge for continuous desalination. Here, an efficient solar-driven water harvester that consists of strontium-cobaltite-based perovskite (SrCoO₃) anchored on nickel foam (SrCoO₃@NF) is reported. Synced waterways and thermal insulation are provided by a superhydrophilic polyurethane substrate combined with a photothermal layer. The structural photothermal properties of SrCoO₃ perovskite have been extensively investigated through state-of-the-art experimental investigations. Multiple incident rays are induced inside the diffuse surface, permitting wideband solar absorption (91%) and heat localization (42.01 °C @ 1 sun). Under 1 kW m⁻² solar intensity, the integrated SrCoO₃@NF solar evaporator has an outstanding evaporation rate (1.45 kg/m² h) and solar-to-vapor conversion efficiency (86.45% excluding heat losses). In addition, long-term evaporation measurements demonstrate small variance under sea water, illustrating the system’s working capacity for salt rejection (1.3 g NaCl/210 min), which is excellent for an efficient solar-driven evaporation application compared to other carbon-based solar evaporators. According to the findings of this research, this system offers significant potential for producing fresh water devoid of salt accumulation for use in industrial applications.