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Water Nanochannels in MXene Polyamide Nanofiltration

Membranes: Implications for Permeability
Qiang Xue, Wenqiao Meng, Qing Fang, Jinyuan Zhu, and Kaisong Zhang*
Cite This: ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 2023, 6, 11282−11290 Read Online

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ABSTRACT: Over the last decade, thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes have been
extensively utilized in desalination and wastewater treatment. The most reported nanochannels
Downloaded via NECMETTIN ERBAKAN UNIV on May 3, 2024 at 13:30:51 (UTC).

in the TFN membranes lack sufficient observational evidence. We conducted a systematic study
on the TFN membrane that incorporated two-dimensional (2D) MXene nanosheets and
provided evidence that nanovoids existed in the polyamide layer surrounding the nanosheets.
The nanovoids functioned as nanochannels for water, which led to a significant increase in
membrane permeance by 2.8 times compared to the blank membrane. The Na2SO4 rejection of
the MXene polyamide membrane is as high as 96.4% and has obvious advantages in seawater
desalination. The size of the nanochannels was correlated with the quantity, size, and
spreadability of MXene nanosheets. Larger water nanochannels could be formed if there is a
considerable amount and size of nanosheets, and they were evenly distributed. After being
subjected to a sustained pressure environment, the nanochannels remained intact and the
membrane maintained its excellent permeance across varying pressures. Our work could offer a
perspective on the generation of internal nanochannels in the TFN membrane and optimize
nanochannels to provide better desalination performance.
KEYWORDS: water nanochannel, MXene, nanovoids, nanofiltration, desalination

1. INTRODUCTION explored the effect of external and internal channels of

The membrane method is a common means in the process of nanomaterials on separation efficiency and concluded that a
seawater desalination, and the thin-film composite (TFC) combination of two nanochannels can significantly improve
membranes as a typical representative are widely used. TFC membrane flux.14 Unlike the nanomaterials mentioned above,
membranes demonstrate superior permselectivity and stability the parallel arrangement of 2D nanosheets can hinder the
across a broader pH range, consequently supplanting the solubility transmission path and even alter the nanochannels
acetate cellulose membrane to become the foremost between adjacent nanosheets, thus affecting the membrane
membrane utilized for seawater desalination in the commercial performance.15 At present, it has been reported that graphene
oxide (GO),16 molybdenum disulfide,9 metal carbon/nitride
landscape.1,2 However, the flux and rejection of the TFC
(MXene),10 metal organic framework,17 and covalent organic
membrane are inevitably subject to the inherent balance
framework18 modified TFC membranes to improve membrane
between its permeance and selectivity.3 The incorporation of
performance by constructing nano-transport channels. But
nanomaterials with specific functionalities into the polyamide
what are the nanochannels of 2D nanosheets in the PA layer,
(PA) separation layer of TFN membranes has been enabled by
and what is the appearance of the nanochannels? 2D
advances in nanotechnology.4 The incorporation of nanoma-
nanosheets embedded in PA layers represent a composite
terials will alter the pore structure and density of the PA layer,5
material composed of organic and inorganic components, with
the hydrophilicity,6 the charge,7 the thickness of the PA layer,8
a complex morphology. The layer spacing of the 2D
and the surface roughness,9 which can further improve the
nanosheets cannot account for this phenomenon, which is
separation efficiency of the TFN membranes.
different from that of the 2D nanosheet membrane prepared
It was noteworthy that researchers attributed the perform-
using vacuum-assisted filtering.
ance improvement to the nanochannels formed between
nanomaterials and the PA layer.10−12 Yang et al. reported
that the TFN membranes combined with AgNPs had a Received: March 26, 2023
nanochannel with a size of approximately 2.5 nm, which had Accepted: May 17, 2023
not been previously observed.11 Li and colleagues loaded Published: May 30, 2023
copper nanorods into the PA layer and then used acid etching
to form one-dimensional (1D) nanochannels in the PA
separation layer, thus increasing its permeance.13 Yin et al.

© 2023 American Chemical Society https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.3c01337

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Scheme 1. The Preparation Process of MXene Polyamide Membranes Containing Water Nanochannels
We previously reported that MXene nanosheets were
inserted into the PA layer by using the aqueous phase as a
dispersed phase, and it was found that a large area of nanovoid
structure was present in the separation layer for the first time,
which may be strong evidence of the existence of nanochannels
and could help improve desalination performance.19 In this
research, the main formation mechanism of nanochannels was
examined, as well as the influence of the quantity, size, and
dispersal level of MXene nanosheets on nanochannel
formation. Simultaneously, the structural alterations of water
nanochannels under pressure conditions were further inves-
tigated. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first
discussion of water nanochannels formed in PA layers through
the insertion of 2D nanosheets. Our study provides a new
understanding of the formation and transport mechanism of
water nanochannels in TFN membranes, and we also believe
that the water nanochannel of the TFN membrane plays an
important role in saline desalination.
2. EXPERIMENTAL SECTION
2.1. Materials. Titanium aluminum carbide (Ti3AlC2, 200 mesh,
98%, Macklin), hydrochloric acid (HCl, 36−38%, Sinopharm), and
lithium fluoride (LiF, 99%, Macklin) were employed to prepare
Ti3C2Tx nanosheets. A laboratory-made PSf ultrafiltration membrane
acted as a base membrane for interfacial polymerization (pure water
flux: 331 L m−2 h−1 bar−1, BSA rejection: 98.8%). (±)-Camphor-10-
sulfonic acid (CSA, 99%, Aladdin), triethylamine (TEA, 99%,
Aladdin), piperazine (PIP, 99%, Aladdin), and sodium dodecyl
sulfate (SDS, 99%, Macklin) were taken for preparing aqueous
solutions in IP reaction. 1,3,5-Benzenetrimethyl sodium chloride
(TMC, 98%, Aladdin) and n-hexane (97%, Macklin) were used to
formulate the organic phase solutions. Sodium sulfate (Na2SO4, 99%,
Macklin) was used to prepare salt solutions for separation
performance testing.
2.2. Preparation of MXene Nanosheets and MXene-PA
Membranes. Ti3C2Tx nanosheets were obtained by a previously
reported minimally intensive layer delamination method.20 1 g of LiF
and 10 mL of 9 M HCl solution were mixed to prepare HF solution,
and then 1 g of Ti3C2Tx was slowly added to the HF solution, stirred
at 40 rpm, and heated in a water bath at 35 °C for 24 h. When the
reaction finished, the obtained product was acid washed several times
until the pH was 6−7, diluted with deionized water, and centrifuged
for 5 min at 3500 rpm with constant shaking; a stable supernatant was
obtained, and the procedure was repeated several times. The
concentration of the collected Ti3C2Tx supernatant was 0.4 mg/mL.
The morphology and particle size distribution of the prepared MXene
nanosheets are shown in the Figure S1 in Supplementary Information.
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1.5% of CSA, 1.5% of TEA, 1.0% of PIP, 0.05% of SDS, and 95.95%
of deionized water were mixed and stirred to prepare the aqueous
phase solution of IP, and 0.15% of TMC was mixed with 50 mL of n-
hexane solution to prepare the organic phase solution. The surface of
the base membrane was blotted dry with absorbent paper, and the
aqueous phase solution was immersed on the surface of the base
membrane for 80 s. Then, the excess aqueous phase solution was
poured out and the membrane surface was dried, poured into the
organic phase solution, and kept immersed for 5 s; the excess organic
phase solution was poured out and placed in a 50 °C oven for thermal
compounding for 1 min. The membrane surface was rinsed with
deionized water after removal and stored in deionized water for later
use. The aqueous solutions with Ti3C2Tx contents of 20, 60, 100, 140,
and 200 ppm were prepared as aqueous solvents, and other
membrane formulations were the same as those of TFC membranes
to prepare MXene PA membranes. The preparation process of the
MXene membranes containing water nanochannels is shown in
Scheme 1.
2.3. Characterization Methods. Before characterization, the
membrane samples were dried in a freeze dryer (FD-1A-50,
BIOCOOL). Scanning electron microscopy (FESEM, S-4800,
Hitachi) was used to observe the topography of the membrane
surface and cross section, and atomic force microscopy (AFM,
Dimension Icon, Bruker) was taken to observe the 2D and 3D
topographies of the membrane surface and obtain the roughness
value. X-ray electron spectroscopy (XPS, AXIS Supra, Kratos) was
employed to analyze the elemental composition of the membrane
surface and to calculate the crosslinking degree of the membrane. The
membrane samples were fixed with resin and then cut with an
ultramicrotome (Leica UC7) to obtain TEM cross-sectional samples.
The membrane slicing process was as follows: (1) A blade was used to
draw a 1 mm-wide strip on the functional layer of the membrane, and
tweezers were used to separate and remove the strip-shaped
functional layer and the non-woven layer, which were put into the
embedding mold; (2) the sample was baked at 40 °C for 6 h; (3) a
Spurr resin embedding agent (epoxy Spurr resin (vinyl cyclohexene
dioxide)) was added to the embedding mold, soaked at 35 °C for 24
h; (4) a toothpick was used to adjust the direction of the membrane
so that it was perpendicular to the direction of the slice, and then it
was polymerized at 70 °C for 24 h; (5) after the embedding block was
trimmed, the sample was cut into ultrathin sections with a thickness of
100 nm with a Leica UC7 ultramicrotome, and the sections were
removed with a copper mesh and dried; (6) a Hitachi H-7650
transmission electron microscope was performed for observation.
2.4. Membrane Performance Evaluation. A cross-flow
filtration system with an effective membrane area of 7.17 cm2 was
employed to evaluate the permeance and solute rejection of the
prepared membranes. All testing membranes were pre-pressed at 4 bar
for 30 min before being tested for filtration. After pre-pressing, the salt
solution’s permeance of the membrane was obtained by testing at 4
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ACS Applied Nano Materials
bar pressure for 30 min. Using a Na2SO4 salt solution with a
concentration of 2000 mg/L as the feed solution, the permeate was
collected for 30 min to test the desalination performance of the
membrane. The conductivities of the feed and permeate solutions
were measured by a conductivity meter (DDS-307A, INESA). Flux
and salt rejection were calculated by the following eqs 1 and 2,
respectively:
V nanovoids in the PA structure can shorten the transmission
J=
At (1)
ji C p zy
R = jjj1 zz × 100%
z interfacial polymerization can easily penetrate into the support
j Cf z{
k (2)
−2 −1
where J is the permeance (L m h ), V is the permeate volume (L),
A is the effective filtration membrane area (m−2), and t is the
collection time (h).
The permeance changes of the membranes under different
pressures were tested under pressures of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 bar,
respectively.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1. Filtration Performance of MXene-PA Mem-
branes. The XPS results of MXene membranes with different
MXene additional amounts are shown in Figure S2a. With the
increase of the additional amount, the N and O elements from
the amide group increase. When the additional amount of
MXene nanosheets reaches 140 ppm, O/N is the lowest and
the cross-linking degree is the highest (Figure S2b). The water
permeance and Na2SO4 rejection of the MXene membranes
are shown in Figure 1. It is obvious that the increased MXene
Figure 1. The water permeance and Na2SO4 rejection of TFC and
MXene-polyamide membranes.
amounts lead to a significantly increased permeance. When the
additional amount of MXene is 200 ppm, the membrane has
the highest permeance of 78.8 L m−2 h−1, which is 2.8 times
than that of the blank membrane. At an additional amount of
140 ppm, the Na2SO4 rejection reaches a maximum of 96.4%.
When the addition amount was from 20 to 100 ppm, although
the cross-linking degree decreased slightly, the addition of
negatively charged nanosheets increased, the Donnan effect
was enhanced, and the repulsion to dianions was enhanced.
The prepared MXene membranes were subjected to
permeance tests at different pressures, and the results are
demonstrated in Figure S3 in the Supplementary Information.
The MXene membrane still has excellent permeance at
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different pressures, which means that the permeance has
good stability and is less affected by pressure.
According to previous studies, the improvement of MXene
membranes’ performance might be due to the existence of
nanochannels between PA layers.10,11 Because of the dense
separation layer of PA, the permeation path of water molecules
is limited during the filtration process. The existence of
path of water molecules and increase the penetration chance of
water molecules. In fact, the reactive monomers in the
membrane due to the existence of pores in the support
membrane, and PAs are easily formed in the pores of the
support membrane to hinder the penetration of water
molecules. Since the MXene nanosheets are between the PA
and the support membrane, it can slow down the permeation
of the reaction monomer to the base membrane to a certain
extent and break through the permeation barrier in the pores
of the original support membrane.21 The above results would
be supported by membrane cross-section morphology under
TEM in the latter part of the article.
3.2. Membrane Surface Morphology and Roughness.
The surface morphologies of the TFC and MXene membranes
are demonstrated in Figure 2. The surface of the PA layer
Figure 2. The surface appearance of MXene membranes when adding
0 to 200 ppm of MXene.
formed by the PIP and TMC reaction has a typical bubble-like
structure (Figure 2a).22 After inserting MXene nanosheets into
the PA layer, the surface of the membrane displayed a lamellar
nanosheet morphology. The nanosheets are coated with a
polymer layer via an interfacial polymerization (IP) reaction,
resulting in the formation of a bubble-like structure on the
surface. If the quantity of MXene nanosheets is excessive, they
begin to form agglomerates on the membrane surface, thus
resulting in a roughened membrane surface. When the amount
of MXene nanosheets is increased to 200 ppm, the membrane
surface has a uniform coverage with nanosheets, and the PA
layer formed is relatively smooth.
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The 2D surface morphologies under AFM are shown in
Figure 3, and the 3D surface morphologies can be found in
Figure 3. The 2D surface morphology of MXene membranes when
adding 0 to 200 ppm of MXene, under AFM with a scan area of 5 × 5
μm.
Figure S4. The changes in the membrane surface morphology
are accordant with the SEM results. The higher surface
roughness of the MXene membrane compared to the TFC
membrane is due to the PA layer covering the MXene
nanosheets, corroborated by the measured roughness values in
Table 1. It has been widely recognized that adding nanoma-
terials helped to increase the surface roughness of mem-
branes.9,23−25 When the additional amount of MXene
increased to 200 ppm, the membrane surface roughness
decreased. The increase in roughness is mainly due to the fact
that multilayer nanosheets are loaded on the membrane
surface, which is rougher than that of unloaded nanosheets,
and the nanosheet-coated PA formed by the IP reaction cause
a local increase in roughness. When the addition of nanosheets
increases, some nanosheets interfere with the growth of the PA
layer.23 In addition, a large number of 2D nanosheets are
located on the membrane surface, which will lead to a
smoother morphology of the TFN membrane.26 The high
roughness of the membrane surface means that a larger
effective filtration area can be improved during the filtration
process, thereby increasing the penetration of water molecules.
3.3. Different Nanovoids and Different MXene
Amounts. The SEM images of membrane cross sections
with different MXene amounts are shown in Figure 4. It is
noteworthy that nanovoids exist between the MXene
membrane’s PA layer and the PSf support membrane,
indicating that the PA layer and the support membrane are
not completely compatible.
The cross-section morphologies of the membranes were
observed under TEM, and the results are demonstrated in
Figure 5. The IP reaction formed an ultrathin and dense PA
layer on the surface of the base membrane. The roughness of
the PA layer increased after adding MXene nanosheets, which
is consistent with the results of SEM and AFM. There are no
obvious nanovoids between the PA layer and the base
membrane for the TFC membrane (Figure 5a), while the
Table 1. Membrane Surface Roughness Values of TFC and MXene Membranes
membrane 0 ppm 20 ppm 60 ppm
Rq (nm) 18.0 ± 2.3 40.8 ± 2.5 35.2 ± 0.6
Ra (nm) 13.6 ± 1.2 28.2 ± 2.8 23.6 ± 1.4
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Figure 4. Cross-section appearance of the PA layer when adding 0 to
200 ppm of MXene.
addition of MXene resulted in the formation of distinct
nanovoids (Figure 5b−f). With the increase of the additional
amount of MXene nanosheets, the nanovoid area increases.
The PA separation layer of the MXene membranes under
TEM is relatively thin and rough. To observe the changes of
nanovoids after compaction, the MXene membranes with
different additional amounts were operated under 4 bar
pressure for 720 min, and the obtained results are shown in
Figure S5. After long-time compaction, obvious nanovoids are
still observed in the membrane cross section. Nanovoids are
less affected by compaction, indicating that nanovoids can
function effectively during actual operation. In addition, the
structural distribution of nanovoids in the PA separation layer
determines the transport path of the membrane during
filtration.27 If not able to pass through nanovoids, water
molecules need to pass through at least two PA sections, and a
longer transport path is not conducive to the improvement of
permeance. The nanovoids of the MXene nanosheets in the PA
layer are directly connected to the supporting membrane, and
the water molecules only pass through one section of PA
during the filtration process, which is beneficial to reducing the
resistance of the transport process. In addition, although the
thickness of the PA layer is decreased, the PA layer is still
dense. Moreover, as the amount of MXene increases, the area
of nanovoids is higher than the PA separation layer, so we
believe that nanovoids have a greater effect on increased flux.
To more accurately evaluate the relationship between the
additional amount of MXene nanosheets and the size of
formed nanovoids, we selected 10 TEM images at different
100 ppm 140 ppm 200 ppm
41.0 ± 9.0 36.5 ± 0.8 26.2 ± 3.7
27.9 ± 6.2 27.3 ± 0.8 19.8 ± 2.5
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ACS Applied Nano Materials
Figure 5. Different-size nanovoids of MXene membranes with different additional amounts under TEM (a−f).
Figure 6. The statistical results of MXene and nanovoids in the MXene membrane cross section under TEM.
positions of each additional amount and calculated the cross-
section area of MXene and nanovoids with the help of ImageJ
software. At the same time, the ratio of nanovoid area/MXene
area was calculated, and the results are demonstrated in Figure
6. The cross-section area of MXene nanosheets in the PA layer
increases gradually with the increased amount of MXene
nanosheets, and the nanovoid area increases significantly.
Therefore, the nanovoid size is greatly affected by the
additional amount of MXene nanosheets. By calculating the
ratio of the nanovoid area to the MXene nanosheet area, it was
found that the ratio was highest when the addition amount was
140 ppm. In fact, too high addition amounts bring excessive
nanovoids, and some ions are easy to penetrate and reduce the
salinity. This confirmed that 140 ppm is an appropriate
addition amount.
3.4. Different Nanovoids and Different Spreadability
of MXene. MXene nanosheets have two states in the PA layer;
one is uniform dispersion, and the other is nanosheet
agglomeration. As shown in Figure 7, the nanovoids produced
by the two dispersion degrees of nanosheets are different.
When the nanosheets are more uniformly distributed in the PA
layer, the resulting nanovoids are larger and evenly distributed
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(Figure 7a−d). When the nanosheets agglomerated in the PA
layer, it was observed that the nanovoids formed in the PA
layer were smaller. Many studies have reported that the
agglomeration caused by the high concentration loading of
nanosheets leads to the reduction of the membrane
permeance;10,28,29 however, it did not explain how nanosheet
agglomeration reduced the membrane permeance. We believe
that the agglomerated nanosheets generate smaller nanovoids
in the PA layer, potentially resulting in a reduction in
membrane permeance. Consequently, the spreadability of
nanomaterials within the PA layer is a crucial factor to amplify
the role of nanomaterials in elevating membrane performance
in future studies.
3.5. Different Nanovoids and Different MXene Sizes.
The different size nanovoids created by small and big size
MXene nanosheets in the PA layer and the morphology of the
PA layer are shown in Figure 8. The size of MXene nanosheets
determines the size of nanovoids in the PA layer, indicating
that nanochannels between PA layers may not be established if
the nanosheets are too small. Big-sized MXene nanosheets
produce bigger nanovoids, which is more conducive to water
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Figure 7. Different-size nanovoids created by scattered and agminated nanosheets in PA layers when adding 100, 140, and 200 ppm of MXene.

Figure 8. Different-size nanovoids created by MXene nanosheets of different sizes in PA layers when adding 60, 100, and 140 ppm of MXene.

transmission. Besides, the surface of the MXene-loaded PA
layer is relatively rough, which can provide a high filtering area.
3.6. Formation Mechanism of Nanovoids in the PA
Layer. Nanomaterial-modified PA nanofiltration membranes
can greatly improve the separation performance, but there are
few studies on the underlying mechanisms. The experimental
results show that MXene nanosheets created nanovoids in the
PA layer, serving as nanochannels during filtration. Yang et al.
studied silver nanoparticle (AgNP) TFN membranes, revealing
the formation of nanochannels with a size of about 2.5 nm
around the AgNPs for the first time.11 This phenomenon can
be ascribed to the hydrolysis of the trimesoyl chloride
monomer, for the formation of a water layer around each
hydrophilic nanoparticle, and terminating the IP reaction. Both
11287
MXene nanosheets and AgNPs exhibit excellent hydro-
philicity,30 then water molecules are easily attracted in the
aqueous solution, so that the nanosheets are covered with
water molecules. The presence of water molecules in this
region makes it easy for hydrolysis of the trimesoyl chloride
monomer to occur, thus leading to the IP reaction termination
and the formation of nanovoids. Simultaneously, the diffusion
of the monomer solution to the organic phase is impeded by
the nanosheets present in the aqueous solution, causing the
small water droplets around the nanosheets to coalesce into
larger droplets, thus forming larger nanovoids. When the
nanosheets in the aqueous phase are agglomerated, the
distribution of hydrogen bond contact sites on the outer
surface of the nanosheets is reduced compared to the
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ACS Applied Nano Materials
Figure 9. Nanovoids in PA layers without SDS surfactants when adding 0, 100, and 200 ppm of MXene.
uniformly dispersed nanosheets, so fewer water layers are
formed around the agglomerated nanosheets, resulting in
smaller nanovoids. That is why the above discussion of
agglomerated nanosheets yields smaller nanovoids. Another
theory that can explain the formation of nanovoids is the nano
foaming theory of IP. The polymerization of aqueous and
organic monomers during IP is an exothermic reaction, and the
heat generated during the reaction reduces the solubility of
dissolved gases CO2, N2, and O2.31,32 Since the reaction of PIP
and TMC produces an HCl by-product, this can further
promote the release of CO2. Because of the obstacle of
nanosheets, the escape process of bubbles is limited in PA
structure. The released fine air bubbles are “frozen” and
encapsulated by the rapidly formed PA, and nanovoids are
formed.
In order to avoid the influence of bubble formation from the
addition of SDS to the aqueous solution during stirring, TFC
and TFN membranes with MXene additions of 100 and 200
ppm were prepared without SDS. The cross-section morphol-
ogy of the prepared membranes under TEM is shown in Figure
9. Small nanovoids were observed in the PA layer of the TFC
membrane, which was attributed to the exothermic generation
of air bubbles by the IP reaction. The PA layer of the MXene
membranes still exhibits large nanovoids around the nano-
sheets (Figure 9b,d), while the nanovoids in the PA layer of
the TFN membrane without MXene nanosheets are
significantly greater than those in the TFC membrane (Figure
9c). This might be owing to the exothermic participation of the
MXene nanosheets during the IP process, resulting in the
release of more dissolved gases and thus more nanovoids in the
PA layer of the MXene membranes. Similar mechanisms have
also been reported in zeolite-TFN membranes.33
4. CONCLUSIONS
In this work, MXene nanosheets were successfully dispersed in
an aqueous phase to fabricate MXene-PA membranes with
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water nanochannels. The cross section of the PA layer under
TEM images revealed nanovoids’ presence in the PA layer,
which could act as water nanochannels. The permeance of the
MXene membrane with water nanochannels was found to be
2.8 times of the TFC membrane, yet with a comparable level of
salt rejection. Moreover, when the quantity and size of
nanosheets were relatively large and evenly spread, large water
nanochannels were formed. The water nanochannels of MXene
membranes were less affected under different pressures and
long-term operation. Our research explored the changing
factors of nanovoids, which could provide new ideas for
optimizing nanochannels to get better desalination perform-
ance.
■
*
ASSOCIATED CONTENT
sı Supporting Information
The Supporting Information is available free of charge at
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsanm.3c01337.
The morphology and size distribution of MXene
nanosheets, the XPS results and cross-linking degree of
MXene membranes, the pure water flux under different
pressures, the 3D morphology of MXene membranes
under AFM, and the membrane cross-section morphol-
ogy under SEM and nanovoids after long-time
compaction (PDF)
■ AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
Kaisong Zhang − College of Environmental Science and
Engineering and Key Lab of Marine Environment and
Ecology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China,
Qingdao 266100, PR China; orcid.org/0000-0002-2690-
9250; Email: zhangkaisong@ouc.edu.cn
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.3c01337
ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 2023, 6, 11282−11290
ACS Applied Nano Materials
Authors
Qiang Xue − Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion,
Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Xiamen, Fujian 361021, PR China; University of
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
Wenqiao Meng − Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant
Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese
Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, Fujian 361021, PR China;
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049,
PR China
Qing Fang − Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion,
Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Xiamen, Fujian 361021, PR China; University of
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
Jinyuan Zhu − Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant
Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese
Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, Fujian 361021, PR China;
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049,
PR China
Complete contact information is available at:
https://pubs.acs.org/10.1021/acsanm.3c01337
Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
■ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by grants from the National Key
R&D Program of China (2021YFC3201402), the Ministry of
Science and Technology, the Bureau of Frontier Sciences and
Education (QYZDB-SSW-DQC044), the Bureau of Interna-
tional Cooperation (132C35KYSB20160018), the Chinese
Academy of Sciences and the Joint Project between CAS-
CSIRO (132C35KYSB20170051), and the Fujian Provincial
Department of Science and Technology (2022 T3002). The
authors would like to acknowledge H. Ren for TEM sample
making, Z. Xu for the XPS test, and D. Pan for the AFM test.
Also, the authors thank the editor and reviewers for their
insightful comments.
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ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 2023, 6, 11282−11290