Issue

Vol. 17 (2025)

Biomimetic Micro-Nanostructured Evaporator with Dual-Transition-Metal MXene for Efficient Solar Steam Generation and Multifunctional Salt Harvesting

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-024-01612-0
Ruiqi Xu
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, People’s Republic of China
Hongzhi Cui
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, People’s Republic of China
Na Wei
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, People’s Republic of China
Yang Yu
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, People’s Republic of China
Lin Dai
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, People’s Republic of China
Xiaohua Chen
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Hongzhi Cui

cuihongzhi@ouc.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 17 (2025), Article Number: 102

Abstract

Solar-driven interfacial evaporation is one of the most attractive approaches to addressing the global freshwater shortage. However, achieving an integrated high evaporation rate, salt harvesting, and multifunctionality in evaporator is still a crucial challenge. Here, a novel composite membrane with biomimetic micro-nanostructured superhydrophobic surface is designed via ultrafast laser etching technology. Attractively, the double‐transition‐metal (V1/2Mo1/2)2CTx MXene nanomaterials as a photothermal layer, exhibiting the enhanced photothermal conversion performance due to elevated joint densities of states, which enables high populations of photoexcited carrier relaxation and heat release, provides a new insight into the photothermal conversion mechanism for multiple principal element MXene. Hence, the (V1/2Mo1/2)2CTx MXene-200 composite membrane can achieve a high evaporation rate of 2.23 kg m−2 h−1 under one sun, owing to the enhanced “light trap” effect, photothermal conversion, and high-throughput water transfer. Synergetically, the membrane can induce the directed precipitation of salt at the membrane edge, thus enabling salt harvesting for recycling and zero-emission of brine water. Moreover, the composite membrane is endowed with excellent multifunctionality of anti‐/de‐icing, anti-fouling, and antibacterial, overcoming the disadvantage that versatility is difficult to be compatible. Therefore, the evaporator and the promising strategy hold great potential for the practical application of solar evaporation.


Highlights:
1 The design of composite membrane with biomimetic micro-nanostructured superhydrophobic surface and (V1/2Mo1/2)2C MXene photothermal nanomaterials.
2 The double‐transition‐metal (V1/2Mo1/2)2CTx MXene exhibits enhanced photothermal conversion performance via the elevated joint densities of states.
3 The (V1/2Mo1/2)2CTx MXene-200 composite membrane achieves an evaporation rate of 2.23 kg m−2 h−1 under one sun, directed salt harvesting, and excellent multifunctionality of anti-/de-icing, anti-fouling, and antibacterial.

Keywords

Double‐transition‐metal MXene Micro-nanostructures Solar steam generation Salt harvesting Multifunctionality
Xu, Ruiqi, Hongzhi Cui, Na Wei, Yang Yu, Lin Dai, and Xiaohua Chen. 2025. “Biomimetic Micro-Nanostructured Evaporator With Dual-Transition-Metal MXene for Efficient Solar Steam Generation and Multifunctional Salt Harvesting”. Nano-Micro Letters 17 (January):102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-024-01612-0.
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