MXene Materials for Solar Water Purification and Energy Storage
This research community develops two-dimensional transition metal carbide and nitride materials, known as MXenes, primarily for solar-driven water evaporation, desalination, and electrochemical energy storage.
The work centers on the synthesis of titanium carbide MXenes (Ti3C2Tx) and their composites with graphene oxide, reduced graphene, and other carbon structures. A dominant application is interfacial solar evaporation, where these materials convert sunlight into heat to purify water or generate steam for desalination. A significant parallel strand focuses on energy storage, particularly lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries and supercapacitors, leveraging the high electrical conductivity and surface area of the nanosheets. The community also investigates the fundamental synthesis methods, such as etching MAX phases, and the stability of these materials against oxidation.
The largest share of the community's output is found in carbon research, accounting for 20.2% of all carbon research, and 1,446 papers here. Titanium research follows with 30.1% of all titanium research and 801 papers. The community comprises 7,418 papers published primarily in Chemical Engineering Journal, Advanced Functional Materials, and Small. Recent work continues to focus on optimizing MXene terminations, developing double-transition metal variants for energy storage, and enhancing photothermal conversion for seawater desalination.