*Corresponding Authors’ Emails:
fenglong.wang@sdu.edu.cn (F.L.W)
donglun@email.sdu.edu.cn (L.D)
Keywords: Ag/MXene composites, chitosan hydrogels, solar
evaporator, antibacterial effect,
photothermal materials
Solar-driven interfacial steam generation
is considered as a sustainable and
cost-effective approach to produce freshwater from seawater or sewage,
whereas unavoidable microbial contamination and low evaporation
efficiency remain challenges. Herein, we report a high-performance and
antibacterial 3D Ag/MXene@chitosan hydrogel (described as AM/Ch gel)
evaporator through incorporation of two-dimensional (2D) Ag/MXene
composites into
three-dimensional
(3D) chitosan hydrogel. Thanks to the synergistic contributions
from chitosan hydrogel matrix and
Ag/MXene composites, 3D AM/Ch gel could completely eradicate bothE. coli and S. aureusunder simulated solar light
irradiation, ensuring the production of microbial-free drinkable
water. Benefiting from
the superb photo-to-thermal
conversion behavior and feasible water transportation in the 3D
networks,
the
prepared AM/Ch gel-based evaporator
exhibits intriguing solar steam generation performances, with
evaporation rate and solar energy utilization efficiency of 3.22 kg
m–2 h–1 and 94.9% under
irradiation of 0.2 W
cm-2,
respectively. As a demonstration, the quality of collected liquid water
evaporated from seawater adopted from the Yellow Sea, China, well
satisfies the requirement for drinking water from World Health
Organization. Moreover, the AM/Ch gel exhibits high flexibility and
chemical stability, excellent dye molecules adsorption capacity and
self-cleaning ability, indicating its promising potential for durable
and sustainable water distillation.