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Figure 9. (A) (A-1) Depiction of a wick-based solar evaporator for interfacial evaporation, (A-2) heat localization, salt rejection via wick-free bounded water layer, heat loss minimization through self-floating insulation, and mechanisms for salt rejection using convection in water channels, (A-3) increased heat loss in contactless evaporation with a separated solar absorber and air gap, (A-4) Variance of Peclet numbers with flow condition (L × u) indicating convection or diffusion dominance, Use of confined water layer in normal (A-5) and contactless (A-6) evaporator modes. (B) Confined water layer prototype: (B-1) schematic, (B-2) actual image. (C) Three solar evaporation setups: the first two with basic solar-to-thermal conversion, with the second having a convection shield, and the third being contactless with an air gap. (D) Photo and IR view of the reservoir with the confined water layer. (E) Efficiency assessment across setups and salinities. Reprinted with permission from ref.^[6]. Copyright 2022 Springer Nature.