Water evaporation and mineral extraction devices

Abstract

A device, system, and method for enhancing solar evaporation may be provided. Devices may include a solar absorption material. A buoyancy of the device may be configured or configurable such that the solar absorption material will be disposed an average distance d below a surface of a liquid when the device is placed in the liquid, where 0<d≤10 cm. The solar absorption material may include a plurality of layers, including a carbonaceous light absorbing layer and at least one additional layer. The at least one additional layer may include a reflective layer disposed below the carbonaceous light absorbing layer, an anti-reflection layer disposed above the carbonaceous light absorbing layer, and/or a first layer disposed above the carbonaceous light absorbing layer and any anti-reflection layer, where the first layer may consist of an anti-scaling layer, a photocatalyst layer, or a selective mineral adsorption layer.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.