MXene Membranes Inserted with Tannic Acid Etched MOF Nanocrystals for Ultrafast Water Permeation: Elucidating the Water Transport Mechanism in Nanoconfined Interlaminar Channels.

Zhu, Xiaowei; Liu, Fangjian; Meng, Lijun; Gao, Qieyuan; Wang, Xi; Lou, Mengmeng; Xu, Xiangmin; Zhang, Wei et al. · Nano Lett · 2025

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Utilizing pore and interlayer engineering within nanoconfined interlaminar channels represents an ingenious approach to design highly permselective MXene (Ti<sub>3</sub>C<sub>2</sub>T<sub>X</sub>) membranes. Herein, the tannic acid (TA) etched ZIF-8 (TZIF-8) nanocrystals with hollow structures were effectually inserted into the interlayer spacing of MXene membranes. First, the density functional theory (DFT) results demonstrated the reaction mechanism between TA and ZIF-8. Then, the underlying mechanism of enhanced water-adsorptive properties for MXene/TZIF-8 membrane was due to the higher binding energy of water/TZIF-8 system than that of water/ZIF-8 system, elucidated by molecular dynamic simulation. Furthermore, the low mass transfer resistance and abundant mass transfer pathways of the MXene/TZIF-8 membrane were comprehensively proved by various experimental conclusions, characterizations and simulation calculations. As a result, the optimal MXene/TZIF-8 membrane exhibited high water permeance and concurrently satisfactory separation efficacy toward various oil/water emulsions. This work is anticipated to deepen the comprehension of high-efficiency water transport along interbedded nanochannels in MXene membranes.