Solar steam generation (SSG), a solar-driven water purification technology based on ultrablack photothermal materials (PTMs) and sunlight, has attracted wide attention around the world. That is because SSGs can obtain pure water without consuming fossil energy to alleviate the shortage of drinking water around the world. So far, scientists have made many ingenious designs to improve the comprehensive performance of evaporators. Based on the structural design of PTMs, the light and thermal management strategies involved in SSGs are comprehensively summarized and discussed herein. Light management strategies include intrinsic light absorption and enhanced light absorption through structure designs of different scales to reduce reflected energy loss. Thermal management strategies include reducing conduction, radiation, convective heat loss, and even capture heat from the warm ambient for water evaporation. Using these strategies to carry out careful structure designs, the evaporators can achieve high evaporation rates and efficiencies close to or above the theoretical values. Prospects for the development of SSGs and the urgent problems that need to be solved are discussed. It is expected that this review guides researchers in exploring the fundamentals and design strategies of SSG and further guides device optimization.

中文翻译：

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高效太阳能蒸汽发电中光热管理的智能策略

太阳能蒸汽发电（SSG）是一种基于超黑光热材料（PTM）和太阳光的太阳能驱动净水技术，受到了全世界的广泛关注。这是因为SSGs可以在不消耗化石能源的情况下获得纯净水，以缓解全球饮用水短缺的问题。迄今为止，科学家们已经做出了许多巧妙的设计来提高蒸发器的综合性能。本文基于 PTM 的结构设计，全面总结和讨论了 SSG 中涉及的光热管理策略。光管理策略包括本征光吸收和通过不同尺度的结构设计增强光吸收以减少反射能量损失。热管理策略包括减少传导、辐射、对流热损失，甚至从温暖的环境中吸收热量以蒸发水分。使用这些策略进行仔细的结构设计，蒸发器可以实现接近或高于理论值的高蒸发率和效率。讨论了SSG的发展前景和亟待解决的问题。希望这篇综述能够指导研究人员探索 SSG 的基本原理和设计策略，并进一步指导设备优化。