FeOOH Quantum Dots Assembled MXene-Decorated 3D Photothermal Evaporator for Synergy Application in Solar Evaporation and Fenton Degradation.

Abstract

Solar-driven water evaporation is considered as the sustainable approach to alleviate freshwater resource crisis through direct use of solar energy. However, it is still challenging to achieve the multifunctional solar evaporators equipped with both high evaporation and purification performance to handle practical complex wastewater. Here, a simple and cost-effective multifunctional 3D solar evaporator is prepared by alternately decorating the commercial sponge with FeOOH quantum dots (FQDs) supported MXene sheets composites and chitosan hydrogel coatings for enabling the solar water evaporation and organic wastewater photodegradation simultaneously. MXene composites allow the solar evaporator with excellent photothermal conversion performance, the hydrophilic chitosan hydrogel coated interconnecting skeleton structures of sponge serve as the mass transfer and water transport channels. The Fenton-catalytic FQDs anchored on the MXene sheets surface accept the photo-generated electrons of MXene sheets to induce the organic pollutant photo-Fenton degradation reaction under sunlight irradiation. The resulting evaporator possesses both excellent water evaporation rate of 2.54kg m-2h-1 and high degradation efficiency (99.24% for methylene blue), coupled with durable salt-resisting performance during long-term seawater desalination (20 wt.% NaCl). This work provides a simple and feasible strategy for designing multifunctional solar evaporators to meet the potential application scenarios in practice.