Reshapable MXene/Graphene Oxide/Polyaniline Plastic Hybrids with Patternable Surfaces for Highly Efficient Solar-Driven Water Purification

Although many solar-driven water evaporators are developed for solar steam generation, most solarthermal energy conversion materials cannot be used repeatedly for constructing solarthermal water evaporators with variable shapes and patternable surfaces. Herein, reshapable Ti3C2Tx MXene/graphene oxide (GO)/polyaniline (PANI) (MGP) hybrids with variable shapes and patternable surfaces are fabricated by PANI-assisted assembly of GO and MXene for efficient solar-driven purifications of both seawater and wastewater. The variable shapes, patternable surfaces, and reusability of the plastic MGP hybrids are attributed to the strong interactions of PANI with both GO and MXene. Benefiting from the excellent solarthermal energy conversion of hydrophilic GO and MXene, the variable shapes and patternable surfaces of the MGP, and the reduced water vaporization enthalpy, the patternable MGP evaporators with flat and concave pyramid surfaces exhibit average water evaporation rates of as high as 2.89 and 3.30 kg m(-2) h(-1) under 1-sun irradiation, respectively. When the plastic MGP is molded to a flower-shaped evaporator, an outstanding evaporation rate of approximate to 3.94 kg m(-2) h(-1) with an exceptional evaporation efficiency of approximate to 135.6% is achieved under 1-sun irradiation. The reusable MGP evaporators are highly efficient in generating clean water from both seawater and wastewater with satisfactory ion rejection rates of nearly 100%.

Automated summary

The study developed reshappable Ti3C2Tx MXene/graphene oxide (GO)/polyaniline (PANI) hybrids with variable shapes and patternable surfaces for efficient solar-driven purification of seawater and wastewater. The hybrids exhibit high water evaporation rates and outstanding evaporation efficiency under 1-sun irradiation, making them highly efficient in generating clean water with satisfactory ion rejection rates.