MXenes, An Emerging 2D Class of Materials for Water Treatment Purposes

Advanced water treatment technologies are needed to address global freshwater scarcity. MXenes, a new class of 2D transition metal carbides and nitrides, show great promise for water purification. They excel in adsorption, membrane filtration, sensing, photocatalysis, and thermal desalination due to their high surface area, tunable functional groups, and conductivity. MXene-based membranes improve water permeability, selectivity, and fouling resistance, making them promising ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis candidates. MXenes' superior conductivity and surface reactivity make them popular for electrochemical sensing of environmental contaminants. Their photocatalytic degradation and thermal desalination demonstrate their environmental remediation versatility. Research is optimizing MXene-based materials for large-scale water treatment, despite synthesis complexity and stability issues. MXenes have made significant progress in water purification, as this editorial shows.