MXene-doped kapok fiber aerogels with oleophobicity for efficient interfacial solar steam generation.

Although the evaporation efficiency of photothermal materials (PMs) in pure water and brine solutions has been extensively studied, there few research on the performance in complex oily wastewater. Herein, a new monolithic solar steam generator derived from kapok fiber-based MXene composite aerogel (named as KFs-MXene) was fabricated by dipping the aerogels (KFs) which composed of kapok fiber and sodium alginate (SA) as substrates in the suspension of MXene. Benefitting from the outstanding light absorption (about 97%), better thermal insulation (thermal conductivity, 0.05039 W m-1 K-1), abundant porosity (95.60%) and rapid water transportation. KFs-MXene show good interfacial solar steam generation (ISSG) performance, resulting in a high water evaporation rate of 1.47 kg m-2h-1 with an outstanding evaporation efficiency of 90.4% under 1 kW m-2 irradiation. To improve the antifouling performance of KFs-MXene, chemically hydrophilic and oleophobic modification was applied, making the KFs-MXene can also be widely used in oily wastewater. Under 1 kW m-2 illumination, the evaporation rate and energy conversion efficiency of KFs-MXene with hydrophilic and oleophobic modification (O-KFs-MXene) in 1 wt% oily water can reach to 1.40 kg m-2h-1 and 82.87%, and the evaporation efficiency and rate of O-KFs-MXene remain stable in the continuous 6 h solar driven interface evaporation process.

Chen L ，Mu X ，Guo Y ，Lu H ，Yang Y ，Xiao C ，Hasi Q ... -  《-》

Multifunctional Super-Hydrophilic MXene/Biomass Composite Aerogel Evaporator for Efficient Solar-Driven Desalination and Wastewater Treatment.

Chen S ，Zheng D ，Cen Q ，Yoo CG ，Zhong L ，Yang D ，Qiu X ... -  《-》

Dual-Functional Graphene Oxide-Based Photothermal Materials with Aligned Channels and Oleophobicity for Efficient Solar Steam Generation.

Chen L ，Wei J ，Tian Q ，Han Z ，Li L ，Meng S ，Hasi QM ... -  《-》

Natural lignocellulosic kapok fiber/MXene constructed hydrogel evaporators for high efficiency solar steam generation.

Su Q ，Wu Z ，Huang X ，Yan J ，Tang L ，Xue H ，Gao J ... -  《-》

Highly efficient MoS(2)/MXene aerogel for interfacial solar steam generation and wastewater treatment.

Interfacial solar steam generation using aerogels holds great promise for seawater desalination and wastewater treatment. However, to achieve aerogels with both durable, high-efficiency evaporation performance and excellent salt resistance remains challenging. Here, a molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) and MXene composite aerogel with vertical pore channels is reported, which has outstanding advantages in mechanical properties, water transportation, photothermal conversion, and recycling stability. Benefiting from the plasmon resonance effect of MXene and the excellent photothermal conversion performance of MoS2, the aerogel exhibits excellent light absorption (96.58 %). The aerogel is resistant to deformation and able to rebound after water absorption, because of the support of an ordered vertical structure. Moreover, combined with the low water evaporation enthalpy, low thermal conductivity, and super hydrophilicity, the aerogel achieves an efficient and stable evaporation rate of about 2.75 kg m-2h-1 under one sun and exhibits excellent self-cleaning ability. Notably, the evaporator achieves removal rates of 99.9 % for heavy metal ions and 100 % for organic dyes, which has great potential in applications including seawater desalination and wastewater purification.

Yang Z ，Wei N ，Xue N ，Xu R ，Yang E ，Wang F ，Zhu H ，Cui H ... -  《-》