Scientometric analysis and review of materials affecting solar still performance

Solar still is a promising solar water desalination technique for the urgent transition to clean energy. In this review, a scientometric analysis of the literature available on solar still desalination is carried out to analyze the main journals, authors, funding, countries, keywords, and documents in the research area. A tremendous number of reviews in the literature for solar stills have been found with a great focus on the developed techniques and economics. Therefore, the focus of this review will be on the materials used for solar stills and their impact on performance, productivity, and cost. The study covers the materials used for developing the solar still design in addition to the materials used for supporting the device operation such as phase change materials and nanomaterials. The study highlights the knowledge gaps related to the materials used for developing and assessing the solar still and figuring out the future development needs. The results and analysis of this study will help researchers to focus on the most effective research points for faster development and dissemination of solar water desalination technologies as a clean alternative instead of fossil fuel water desalination systems.