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The Development of MXene-APTES Photothermal Fabric for Groundwater Treatment
Summary
Researchers developed a photothermal fabric incorporating MXene and APTES functionalization for solar-driven treatment of groundwater contaminated with organic pollutants and plastic-associated chemicals. The fabric efficiently converts light to heat to drive contaminant degradation without external energy input. This approach offers a scalable, low-energy solution for decentralized water purification in resource-limited settings.
In this study, MXene-APTES photothermal fabric was developed for distillation process via sunlight for groundwater treatment. The preparation of the MXene-APTES photothermal fabric involved coating a polyester fabric with a PDA solution as the first layer, followed by a coating with MXene-APTES solution as the second layer. The MXene-APTES photothermal fabric was characterised using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy dispersive X-Ray (EDX), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses. SEM analysis shows the morphology of wrinkle fibrous structure with MXene-APTES particles coated on the fabric surface while EDX detected elemental of 61.29% carbon, 20.82% oxygen, 15.25% titanium, 2.04% silicone and 0.6% chlorine. The FTIR analysis display the functional groups of hydroxy, polysiloxanes, and dialkyl phosphonate in the MXene-APTES photothermal fabric. The subtle shifts in peak positions and changes in peak intensities of XRD pattern revealed the successful incorporation of APTES-MXene on the fabric surface. The distillation experiment under sunlight was conducted using MXene-APTES photothermal fabric in a laboratory-scale distillation panel system. Results show slightly acidic pH obtained (6.65 to 6.76) with increased dissolved oxygen concentration (8.83 to 9.44 mg/L). The MXene-APTES photothermal fabric had excellent performances in removing 96.24% turbidity, 99.39% total suspended solids, and 91.09% total dissolved solids from the groundwater sample. Moderate removal of 56% was attained for chemical oxygen demand. Ammonia nitrogen concentration of 0.66 mg/L was slightly higher than the initial while total hardness concentration of 4.42 mg/L was slightly lower than the initial. The activated MXene-APTES photothermal fabric distillation process via sunlight display high potential for groundwater treatment in removing turbidity, total suspended solids, and total dissolved solids.