Preparation and application of heterojunction KH570–TiO2/MXene/PAN membranes with photocatalytic degradation and photothermal conversion properties

Multifunctional membrane treatment of water bodies is an efficient and environmentally friendly water purification technology. A MXene/PAN membrane is prepared by electrospinning and hydrolyzed with sulfuric acid to obtain amidated MXene/PAN membranes. TiO2 modified by KH-570 is attached to the membrane to obtain a KH570–TiO2/MXene/PAN membrane. The KH570–TiO2/MXene/PAN membrane shows an excellent photocatalytic degradation performance to organic dyes and a high evaporation rate to water, because MXene improves the adsorption of MB and light-to-heat conversion efficiency, while Ti3C2/TiO2/SiO2 heterojunction structure on the fiber surface improves the catalysis activity. The photocatalytic degradation efficiency of MB reaches 90% in 60 ​min in a MB solution of 10 ​mg/L, which is 5.4 times that of TiO2 P25. The maximum water evaporation rate reaches 1.14 ​kg ​m−2 ​h−1 under 1 sun. The KH570–TiO2/MXene/PAN membrane could be used for designing a water purifier by combining the photocatalytic degradation and water evaporation performances.