Dr. Alicia An’s paper is accepted to Nature Communications and featured as the Editors’ Highlights

Dr. Alicia An’s paper titled “Transforming Ti₃C₂T_x MXene’s intrinsic hydrophilicity into superhydrophobicity for efficient photothermal membrane desalination” is accepted to Nature Communications (Impact factor: 14.919 and it is in press now (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31028-6). It is being featured as the Editors’ Highlights. The Editors’ Highlights aim to showcase the 50 best papers recently published in an area (https://www.nature.com/collections/eecgdgijhh).

Membrane distillation is susceptible to thermal inefficiency and membrane wetting issues during seawater desalination.  In collaboration with Prof. Zuankai Wang (Department of Mechanical Engineering, CityU), the team designs a MXene-engineered membrane that imparts efficient localized photothermal effect and strong water repellency, achieving sustainable freshwater production.