Illness as the result of ingesting bacterially contaminated foodstuffs represents a significant annual loss of human quality of life and economic impact globally. Significant research investment has recently been made in developing new materials that can be used to construct food contacting tools and surfaces that might minimize the risk of cross‐contamination of bacteria from one food item to another. This is done to mitigate the spread of bacterial contamination and resultant foodborne illness. Internet‐based literature search tools such as Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Scopus were utilized to investigate publishing trends within the last 10 years related to the development of antimicrobial and antifouling surfaces with potential use in food processing applications. Technologies investigated were categorized into four major groups: antimicrobial agent–releasing coatings, contact‐based antimicrobial coatings, superhydrophobic antifouling coatings, and repulsion‐based antifouling coatings. The advantages for each group and technical challenges remaining before wide‐scale implementation were compared. A diverse array of emerging antimicrobial and antifouling technologies were identified, designed to suit a wide range of food contact applications. Although each poses distinct and promising advantages, significant further research investment will likely be required to reliably produce effective materials economically and safely enough to equip large‐scale operations such as farms, food processing facilities, and kitchens.

Solar-thermal desalination by interfacial evaporation that leverages abundant solar energy to convert saline water into clean freshwater has promised an exciting alternative to meet the grand challenges of water scarcity. Among a host of novel materials developed for efficient solar-thermal desalination, carbon-based materials are arguably the most competitive candidates for practical applications due to their superior biocompatibility. However, conventional carbon-based materials have the limitation of an unsatisfactory vapor generation performance under 1 sun illumination. Here, we report a hierarchical carbon nanostructure that is based on rational design of artificial hollow frameworks on natural cotton to achieve very favorable evaporation properties. Hierarchical water pathways of the evaporator rapidly replenish water as it evaporates. Water evaporation is facilitated by a thin-film effect in the hollow frameworks. The hollow carbonized cotton microfibers (HCMFs) evaporated water with an extremely high rate of 3.2 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ under 1 sun illumination, and exhibited outstanding solar desalination performance with excellent stability and durability. This new material design provides a novel approach to solar vapor generation for a broad range of practical applications.