## 1 Introduction  
Providing humanity with clean water to drink is one of the biggest concerns facing the globe today. Groundwater levels are steadily dropping as a result of the uninterrupted extraction of water resources from the Earth for residential and commercial use [1, 2]. Despite being readily available, surface water is mostly brackish and unsafe for human consumption. It takes a sophisticated procedure to purge salts and other contaminants from water in order to obtain it to the right pH level for human use. The traditional desalination methods not only consume a lot of energy but also cost a lot of money [3, 4]. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a water desalination method that is affordable, environmentally responsible, and renewable. The most effective and practical solution seems to be solar energy. Solar stills are affordable and simple devices that use energy from the sun to transform saline water into drinkable water. A rectangular basin covered in black on the inside of the solar still collects the maximum amount of solar radiation and uses that energy to heat the water within [5]. To prevent heat loss to the surroundings, the basin is completely enclosed with heatproof material on the sides and bottom. The solar still's top is covered with transparent glass to provide an airtight seal [6]. The basin liner captures solar irradiance that has already passed via the glass cover. The heated basin liner transports heat to the surrounding water in the basin via convection and conduction. When water is heated, some of it evaporates and forms condensation on the inner side of the glass cover. The condensed water is eventually collected in a container after travelling via a channel. The water that has been collected in this manner is completely free of all pollutants and salts [7]. To increase distillate yield, researchers have carried out a variety of modifications in solar stills. For example, [PERSON] et al. [8] deployed magnets to improve distillate yield and they obtained a 21.66% higher yield in contrast to conventional stills due to the magnetic effect. [PERSON] et al. [9] obtained distillate of 1950 mL by employing pumice stones in a solar still as a heat storage material. [PERSON] et al. [10] enhanced the performance of a solar still by 104.54% via augmenting magnets with charcoal. [PERSON] et al. [11] increased distillate output by fabricating hierarchical structures for solar desalination. They developed these structures using anodization and additive manufacturing. Additionally, they investigated how these structures at room temperature were affected by the anodization time [12]. [PERSON] et al. [13] improved a solar still's yield output by nanocoating on a condensed surface. [PERSON] et al. [14] improved their distillate yield by 25% via utilizing non-contact nanostructures. These structures have a long life span due to the prevention of salt deposition. [PERSON] et al. [15] enhanced a solar still's productivity by 32% via utilizing PVA sponges. [PERSON] et al. [16] examined the energy and exergy of truncated and parabolic conic fins to study solar still performance and they concluded that parabolic fins are less efficient when compared to truncated conic fins. [PERSON] et al. [17] developed a melanin-inspired aerogel evaporator which demonstrated a remarkable evaporation rate of 1.42 kg m\({}^{-2}\) h\({}^{-1}\) under the illumination of one sun with an evaporation efficiency of 91%. [PERSON] et al. [18] reviewed various polyphenic composite materials such as hydrogels, membranes, and nanofibers for water remediation by emphasizing their functional and structural characteristics. [PERSON] et al. [19] fabricated a stable and long-lasting clean water remediation system using a bio-inspired photothermal and antibacterial membrane. They reported a 1.61 kg m\({}^{-2}\) h\({}^{-1}\) evaporation rate with greater than 90% efficiency. [PERSON] et al.