Sustainable Production of Molybdenum Carbide (MXene) from Fruit Wastes for Improved Solar Evaporation

Freshwater production using solar-driven interfacial evaporation is regarded as a green and sustainable strategy. The biggest barrier to practical deployment of solar desalination, however, continues to be the lack of options for renewable materials. Herein, we present a facile two-step carbonization approach that is sustainable for developing innovative two-dimensional (2D) molybdenum carbide (Mo₂ C) materials derived from carbonized fruit wastes. The resultant 2D Mo₂ C photothermal layer has an efficient water evaporation rate of 1.52 kg m^-2  h^-1 with a photothermal conversion efficiency of 94 % under one sun irradiation, which is among the best reported values so far. The broad solar absorption band, high specific surface area (555.1 m²  g^-1 ) with large micro- and meso porosity, of the Mo₂ C photothermal layer are responsible for these outstanding results. The conversion of food wastes into valuable products, in this case MXene, can potentially inspire greener developments of advanced materials for solar water evaporator.