Fig. 1 Schematic illustration of SVG based on the h-LAH. Schematic illustration of SVG based on the h-LAH. The h-LAH is made by infiltrating PPy absorbers into a matrix consisting of PVA and chitosan. As PVA can play the role of surfactant, the PPy chains are dispersed uniformly in the cross-linked PVA and chitosan polymer network. Upon exposure to the solar irradiation, h-LAH can generate water vapor using solar energy. The floating h-LAH consists of the hydratable polymer network based on cross-linked PVA and chitosan, which is interpenetrated by the light-absorbing PPy. The containing water has three different water types—bound water, IW, and FW. Wherein, the IW can be effectively evaporated with significantly reduced energy demand. Xingyi Zhou et al. Sci Adv 2019;5:eaaw5484 Copyright © 2019 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).