2D MXenes Embedded Perovskite Hydrogels for Efficient and Stable Solar Evaporation

Naila Arshad; Muhammad Sultan Irshad; M Sohail Asghar; Muneerah Alomar; Junyang Tao; M A K Yousaf Shah; Xianbao Wang; Jinming Guo; S Wageh; Omar A Al-Hartomy; Abul Kalam; Yabin Hao; Zhengbiao Ouyang; Han Zhang

doi:10.1002/gch2.202300091

2D MXenes Embedded Perovskite Hydrogels for Efficient and Stable Solar Evaporation

Glob Chall. 2023 Jul 20;7(9):2300091. doi: 10.1002/gch2.202300091. eCollection 2023 Sep.

Authors

Naila Arshad^{1

2}, Muhammad Sultan Irshad^{1

3}, M Sohail Asghar³, Muneerah Alomar⁴, Junyang Tao³, M A K Yousaf Shah⁵, Xianbao Wang³, Jinming Guo³, S Wageh⁶, Omar A Al-Hartomy⁷, Abul Kalam⁶, Yabin Hao¹, Zhengbiao Ouyang¹, Han Zhang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Collaborative Innovation Centre for Optoelectronic Science & Technology International Collaborative Laboratory of 2D Materials for Optoelectronics Science and Technology of Ministry of Education Institute of Microscale Optoelectronics Shenzhen University Shenzhen 518060 P. R. China.
² Interdisciplinary Center of High Magnetic Field Physics College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering Shenzhen University Shenzhen 518060 P. R. China.
³ School of Materials Science and Engineering Hubei University Wuhan 430062 P. R. China.
⁴ Department of Physics College of Sciences Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University P. O. Box 84428 Riyadh 11671 Saudi Arabia.
⁵ School of Energy and Environment Southeast University No. 2 Si Pai Lou Nanjing 210096 China.
⁶ Department of Physics Faculty of Science King Abdulaziz University Jeddah 21589 Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Research Center for Advanced Materials Science (RCAMS) King Khalid University P. O. Box 9004 Abha 61413 Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Solar evaporation is a facile and promising technology to efficiently utilize renewable energy for freshwater production and seawater desalination. Here, the fabrication of self-regenerating hydrogel composed of 2D-MXenes nanosheets embedded in perovskite La _0.6Sr _0.4Co _0.2Fe _0.8O_3- _δ (LSCF)/polyvinyl alcohol hydrogels for efficient solar-driven evaporation and seawater desalination is reported. The mixed dimensional LSCF/Ti₃C₂ composite features a localized surface plasmonic resonance effect in the polymeric network of polyvinyl alcohol endows excellent evaporation rates (1.98 kg m^-2 h^-1) under 1 k Wm^-2 or one sun solar irradiation ascribed by hydrophilicity and broadband solar absorption (96%). Furthermore, the long-term performance reveals smooth mass change (13.33 kg m^-2) during 8 h under one sun. The composite hydrogel prompts the dilution of concentrated brines and redissolves it back to water (1.2 g NaCl/270 min) without impeding the evaporation rate without any salt-accumulation. The present research offers a substantial opportunity for solar-driven evaporation without any salt accumulation in real-life applications.

Keywords: LSCF; MXenes; fresh water; perovskite; photothermal; solar energy; water scarcity.