Although many solar-driven water evaporators are developed for solar steam generation, most solarthermal energy conversion materials cannot be used repeatedly for constructing solarthermal water evaporators with variable shapes and patternable surfaces. Herein, reshapable Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene/graphene oxide (GO)/polyaniline (PANI) (MGP) hybrids with variable shapes and patternable surfaces are fabricated by PANI-assisted assembly of GO and MXene for efficient solar-driven purifications of both seawater and wastewater. The variable shapes, patternable surfaces, and reusability of the plastic MGP hybrids are attributed to the strong interactions of PANI with both GO and MXene. Benefiting from the excellent solarthermal energy conversion of hydrophilic GO and MXene, the variable shapes and patternable surfaces of the MGP, and the reduced water vaporization enthalpy, the patternable MGP evaporators with flat and concave pyramid surfaces exhibit average water evaporation rates of as high as 2.89 and 3.30 kg m −2 h −1 under 1-sun irradiation, respectively. When the plastic MGP is molded to a flower-shaped evaporator, an outstanding evaporation rate of ≈3.94 kg m −2 h −1 with an exceptional evaporation efficiency of ≈135.6% is achieved under 1-sun irradiation. The reusable MGP evaporators are highly efficient in generating clean water from both seawater and wastewater with satisfactory ion rejection rates of nearly 100%.
Zirconium-based
metal–organic frameworks (Zr-MOFs) have
been considered as prospective materials for the degradation of nerve
chemical warfare agents (CWAs) but show poor catalytic performance
toward blister agents. Moreover, the powder issues and the poor adsorption
capability also remain as the major challenges for the application
of Zr-MOFs in practical CWA detoxification. Herein, a series of defected
granular UiO-66-NH2 metal–organic gels are synthesized
via adjusting the amount of added concentrated hydrochloric acid for
the decontamination of 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide (2-CEES), a sulfur
mustard simulant. The half-life of 2-CEES decontaminated by defected
granular UiO-66-NH2 metal–organic gels can be shortened
to 7.6 min, which is the highest reported value for MOFs under ambient
conditions. The mechanism of decontamination is that the amino group
on the linkers in UiO-66-NH2 MOGs undergoes a substitution
reaction with 2-CEES to yield 2-(2-(ethylthio)ethylamino)terephthalic
acid, which is less toxic and fixed in the frameworks. The recycling
test corroborates that the granular UiO-66-NH2 xerogels
possess good stability and reusability. Static adsorption and desorption
tests show that UiO-66-NH2 xerogels possess a high 2-CEES
vapor adsorption capacity of 802 mg/g after exposure for 1 d and only
28 wt % desorption capacity after air exposure for 7 d. The dual function
of ultrafast degradation and high adsorption capability provide a
firm foundation for using UiO-66-NH2 xerogels as a future
protection media.
Chemical protective clothing (CPC) is major equipment to protect human skin from hazardous chemical warfare agents (CWAs), especially nerve agents and blister agents. CPC performance is mainly dominated by the chemical protective material, which needs to meet various requirements, such as mechanical robustness, protective properties, physiological comfort, cost-effectiveness, and dimensional stability. In this study, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) based sodium sulfonate membranes with different ion exchange capacities (IECs) are prepared simply from low-cost materials. Their mechanical properties, contact angles, permeations, and selectivities have been tested and compared with each other. Results show that membranes with IEC in the range of 1.5–2 mmol g−1 have high selectivities of water vapor permeation over CWA simulant vapor permeation and good mechanical properties. Therefore, PVDF-based sodium sulfonate membranes are potential materials for CPC applications.
Although solar‐driven water evaporation technology is promising for desalination of seawater and purification of wastewater, it is still an issue to enhance the solar steam generation performances by efficient utilization of sustainable solar energy. Herein, 2D ferrous ion‐crosslinked Ti3C2Tx MXene‐based aerogel films (MAFs) are fabricated as efficient solar steam generation devices by vacuum‐assisted filtration of aqueous dispersions of MXene with FeCl2 followed by freeze‐drying. The strong interaction of ferrous ions with –OH groups of MXene sheets and the freeze‐drying process are crucial for constructing structurally stable porous films with rough surfaces. Benefiting from the strong solar light absorption capacity and high solar‐thermal energy conversion efficiency of MXene sheets, along with the hydrophilic and structurally stable porous architecture of MAFs, the average evaporation rates of an optimal MAF evaporator are as high as 1.67 and 14.52 kg m−2 h−1 with evaporation efficiencies of 94.3% and 91.7% under solar light irradiations of 1 and 10 kW m‐2, respectively. As a promising solar steam generation device, the 2D porous and hydrophilic MAF evaporator is highly efficient in generating clean water from both natural seawater and organic wastewater with satisfactory ion rejection efficiencies of close to 100%.
For the first time, we report hierarchically porous monolithic UiO-66-X xerogels for ultra-fast destruction of chemical warfare agents. The half-lives of the vesicant agent sulfur mustard (HD) and of the nerve agent VX are as short as 14.4 min and 1.5 min, respectively.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.