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Visible light did not measurably increase evaporation from neat water in a 2026 study—but earlier experiments reported enhanced evaporation from partially wetted hydrogels and responses at air–water interfaces. The results are not a simple contradiction: the studies tested different materials and setups, and the proposed light-driven mechanism remains unsettled.
What the experiments found
The strongest direct answer depends on what is evaporating. In the 2026 study, continuous visible-light illumination did not measurably change evaporation from neat water under the tested conditions. Earlier studies reported light-associated effects in hydrogels and at air–water interfaces, but those findings do not establish that visible light intrinsically accelerates evaporation from ordinary, clean water.
| Study and system | Reported finding | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|
| 2023: partially wetted hydrogels | The authors reported enhanced evaporation under visible light, exceeding their calculated thermal limit, with a response peaking near 520 nm. | An observation in the tested hydrogel system; the proposed explanation was a hypothesis. PNAS (2023) |
| 2024: air–water interface experiments | The authors reported 14 experiments involving visible light, including tests of wavelength, incidence angle and polarization, and interpreted the responses as supporting the proposed photomolecular effect. | Evidence the authors argue supports the effect; implications for clouds and the water cycle remain proposed, not established consequences. PNAS (2024) |
| 2026: neat water | Continuous 450, 532 and 635 nm illumination left macroscopic evaporation unchanged across a range of humidities; the study also reported no detectable change in its interfacial-water measurements. | No detectable effect in the neat-water systems and measurements described by the study, not a verdict on every porous or absorbing material. PubMed record (2026) |
| 2020: water droplets | A study reported that sunlight does not always enhance droplet evaporation and associated observed enhancement with reduced reflection of light energy. | Illumination effects can depend on the droplet and optical conditions; this was not a direct replication of the later photomolecular experiments. CiNii Research record (2020) |
Why the results are not interchangeable
Neat water, a partially wetted hydrogel, and a droplet are different experimental systems. A hydrogel can absorb light and has a solid surface and porous structure; a droplet’s reflection and geometry can affect how much light energy it takes up. A result in one system therefore cannot, by itself, demonstrate the same mechanism in another.
The 2026 study examined neat water under continuous illumination at 450, 532 and 635 nm, across a range of humidities. It also reports femtosecond visible and near-infrared pulses at 515, 800 and 1030 nm, at much higher peak intensities, without detected structural changes. These are distinct illumination regimes, not evidence that every possible light source or material has been tested.
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The 2023 authors reported that their partially wetted hydrogels became visibly absorbing and that illuminated samples exceeded a calculated thermal limit. They observed a wavelength-dependent response with a peak near 520 nm. Those are reported results for that system; the thermal-limit comparison does not by itself prove a nonthermal mechanism at a clean water surface.
What “photomolecular effect” means—and what remains uncertain
The 2023 paper proposed that visible photons might cleave water clusters from a surface. In the authors’ words, “We interpret these observations by introducing the hypothesis that photons in the visible spectrum can cleave water clusters off surfaces due to large electrical field gradients and quadrupole force on molecular clusters.” The paper’s own framing is a hypothesis, not an established explanation for ordinary-water evaporation.
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The 2024 follow-up reports 14 experiments and argues that its results support the proposed effect. Its discussion of possible relevance to fog, clouds, climate and water technologies should be read as implications raised by the authors, rather than demonstrated climate-scale consequences.
By contrast, the authors of the 2026 neat-water study conclude: “Together, these measurements show that the neat air-water interface is remarkably insensitive to visible irradiation”. The scope matters: this conclusion concerns the neat interface under their experimental conditions and within the sensitivity of their measurements. They infer that substantial enhancement in complex materials is more consistent with photothermal or geometric effects than with an intrinsic nonthermal pathway in neat water.
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A 2025 theory paper proposes a model for wavelength-dependent behavior while treating the mechanism as an unresolved puzzle. A theoretical model can help frame explanations, but it is not independent experimental confirmation. Materials Today Physics (2025)
Does sunlight always accelerate water droplet evaporation?
No. A 2020 study explicitly reports that sunlight does not always enhance droplet evaporation. It associates the enhancement it observed with reduced reflection of light energy. That finding makes a useful practical point: illumination can change energy absorption, but the outcome depends on conditions. It does not settle whether the proposed photomolecular mechanism occurs at a clean air–water interface.
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Can light evaporate water without heat?
The available results do not establish that visible light drives evaporation from neat water through a nonthermal mechanism. The hydrogel experiments reported evaporation above a calculated thermal limit, while the 2026 neat-water study found no measurable evaporation change under its continuous visible-light conditions. Resolving the broader question requires keeping the material, optical absorption, reflection, illumination geometry, humidity, heating controls and measurement method tied to each result; the records summarized here do not provide enough common protocol detail for a full quantitative comparison.
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