Facile construction of a super hydrophilic and highly porous Ti3C2Tx/alginate aerogel solar evaporator for water evaporation and purification

Solar-driven interfacial water evaporation has emerged as a promising strategy to address freshwater scarcity. Several solar evaporators have been explored for photothermal water evaporation but their use is limited due to high cost and low evaporation rates. In this study, a super hydrophilic and highly porous Ti 3 C 2 T x /alginate aerogel solar evaporator is fabricated using a novel and straightforward freeze–thaw and solvent exchange approach. Compared to conventional approaches, such as directional freezing and freeze-drying, the proposed method yields a highly porous structure that enhances photothermal performance while simplifying the fabrication process. MXene in Ti 3 C 2 T x /alginate aerogel improves light absorption while its super hydrophilic surface and porous structure facilitate continuous water transport, significantly boosting the water evaporation rate. The optimal aerogel evaporator (M 40 AA) demonstrated a high-water evaporation rate of 2.09 kg m -2 h −1 under one sun irradiation and an evaporation efficiency of 86.09 %. The 14.63, 14.51, and 13.51 kg m −2 of purified water were collected in 7 h through a simple device in the purification of river water, dyes wastewater, and simulated seawater, respectively. Ti 3 C 2 T x could be recycled, from the aerogel evaporator with only a 7.6 % decline of the evaporation rate up to 5 days of continuous use.