Light-propelled photocatalytic evaporator for robotic solar-driven water purification

1.
State Key Laboratory of Integrated Optoelectronics, JLU Region, College of Electronic Science and Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China
2.
Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering, Ministry of Education, College of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun, 130022, China
3.
Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials MOE, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Jilin Provincial International Cooperation Key Laboratory of High-Efficiency Clean Energy Materials, Electron Microscopy Center, International Center of Future Science, Jilin University, Changchun, China
4.
School of Physics and Electronics, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China

Funds: This work was supported in part by the National Key Research and Development Program of China under Grant No. 2022YFB4600400; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 62275100 and T2325014; the Natural Science Foundation of Jilin Province under Grant No. 20230101350JC and YDZJ202402001CXJD; the National Ten Thousand Talent Program for Young Top-notch Talents; the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

摘要

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Abstract: Solar-driven interfacial water purification (SDIWP) has emerged as a green, cost-effective, and sustainable technology for waste/sea water treatment. However, at present, innovative smart water treatment systems that enable high-efficiency water purification through multiform solar schemes are rare. Herein, we report a light-propelled photocatalytic evaporator based on semi-metallic reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/ titanium carbide MXene-titanium dioxide (Ti₃C₂T_x-TiO₂) ternary hybrid foams for multi-scheme SDIWP. The RGO/Ti₃C₂T_x-TiO₂ foam is prepared by freeze-drying induced self-assembly (FDISA) of Ti₃C₂T_x and graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets by which an in-situ redox reaction between Ti₃C₂T_x and GO nanosheets occurs and TiO₂ nanoparticles are generated simultaneously. The synergistic effect leads to the formation of the semi-metallic RGO/Ti₃C₂T_x-TiO₂ framework with the Ti–O-C covalent bonding between RGO and Ti₃C₂T_x. Under light irradiation, the photogenerated carriers in RGO/Ti₃C₂T_x-TiO₂ can occupy the quantum-confined graphene-like states in RGO with an average lifetime of 0.8 ps, this value is 2 orders of magnitude shorter than that of GO and Ti₃C₂T_x. As a result, the RGO/Ti₃C₂T_x-TiO₂ foam shows photocatalytic degradation activity and photothermal conversion ability, enabling multi-scheme SDIWP. Owing to its excellent photothermal properties and quantum-confined superfluidic structures, the RGO/Ti₃C₂T_x-TiO₂ foam exhibits superior vapor generation performance (1.72 kg m^–2 h^–1). Furthermore, the photocatalytic evaporator can be remotely manipulated as a floating robot for water treatment through programmable light navigation via photothermal Marangoni propulsion. This work provides a new approach for developing robotic SDIWP systems.

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doi: 10.1186/s43074-025-00169-4

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Light-propelled photocatalytic evaporator for robotic solar-driven water purification

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doi: 10.1186/s43074-025-00169-4

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Light-propelled photocatalytic evaporator for robotic solar-driven water purification

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PhotoniX

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