3. Conclusion
In conclusion, by crosslinking chitosan chains through hydrogen bonding with Ag/MXene composites as additives, the obtained AM/Ch gel based solar steam generator exhibits features of high antibacterial and self-cleaning ability, satisfying solar energy conversion efficiency and promising clean water production capacity, due to the superb photo-to-thermal conversion behavior of Ag/MXene photothermal centers and feasible water transportation in the biomimetic 3D networks. As such, high solar steam generation rate of 3.22 kg m−2h−1 with a solar energy utilization efficiency of 94.9% has been achieved under irradiation of 0.2 W cm-2, outperforming most of the previously reported solar evaporators. Besides, the concentrations of four primary ions (Na+, Mg2+, K+ and Ca2+) were reduced by three to four orders of magnitude after desalination using seawater samples from the Yellow Sea, China, meeting the requirement for drinking water quality according to World Health Organization, and this reveals the bright prospects of our AM/Ch gel evaporator for seawater desalination.