Bandgap Engineering on UiO–66 Metal‐Organic Framework Derivatives for Solar‐Driven Seawater Desalination

Abstract The growing scarcity of freshwater, driven by climate change and pollution, necessitates the development of efficient and sustainable desalination technologies. Solar‐powered interfacial water evaporation has emerged as a promising solution; however, its practical implementation is hindered...

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Main Authors: Qisheng Shao, Yutong Ding, Wenxian Liu, Jia Guan, Ge Meng, Tairong Kuang, Dingsheng Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-07-01
Series:Advanced Science
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202502989
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author Qisheng Shao
Yutong Ding
Wenxian Liu
Jia Guan
Ge Meng
Tairong Kuang
Dingsheng Wang
author_facet Qisheng Shao
Yutong Ding
Wenxian Liu
Jia Guan
Ge Meng
Tairong Kuang
Dingsheng Wang
author_sort Qisheng Shao
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The growing scarcity of freshwater, driven by climate change and pollution, necessitates the development of efficient and sustainable desalination technologies. Solar‐powered interfacial water evaporation has emerged as a promising solution; however, its practical implementation is hindered by the limited availability of efficient and stable photothermal materials. Herein, a bandgap engineering strategy via linker modification to enhance the photothermal conversion capability of metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) is reported toward efficient solar‐driven desalination. By systematically introducing functional groups with varying electron‐donating and electron‐withdrawing abilities, the energy bandgap of UiO–66–X (X = ─F, ─H, ─OH, ─NH2, ─(NH2)2) is finely tuned. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and femtosecond transient absorption (fs–TA) spectroscopy reveal that stronger electron‐donating functional groups narrow the bandgap of the MOFs, thereby improving their photothermal conversion efficiency. The optimized UiO–66–(NH2)2 material reaches a peak surface temperature of 58.7 °C when exposed to simulated sunlight at ≈1 kW·m−2 with a photothermal conversion efficiency of 86.50% and an evaporation rate of 2.34 kg·m−2·h−1 with an evaporation efficiency of 97.40%. This study presents a novel approach for fine‐tuning the bandgap in photothermal materials, offering a pathway toward advanced solar desalination technologies to address the global water scarcity crisis.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2198-3844
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publishDate 2025-07-01
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spelling doaj-art-669cbb5dfe3c4366a0b173b5908e43522025-08-20T03:36:57ZengWileyAdvanced Science2198-38442025-07-011226n/an/a10.1002/advs.202502989Bandgap Engineering on UiO–66 Metal‐Organic Framework Derivatives for Solar‐Driven Seawater DesalinationQisheng Shao0Yutong Ding1Wenxian Liu2Jia Guan3Ge Meng4Tairong Kuang5Dingsheng Wang6Functional Polymers & Advanced Materials (FPAM) Lab State Key Laboratory of Advanced Separation Membrane Materials College of Materials Science and Engineering Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou 310014 P. R. ChinaFunctional Polymers & Advanced Materials (FPAM) Lab State Key Laboratory of Advanced Separation Membrane Materials College of Materials Science and Engineering Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou 310014 P. R. ChinaFunctional Polymers & Advanced Materials (FPAM) Lab State Key Laboratory of Advanced Separation Membrane Materials College of Materials Science and Engineering Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou 310014 P. R. ChinaKey Laboratory of Carbon Materials of Zhejiang Province College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering Wenzhou University Wenzhou 325035 P. R. ChinaKey Laboratory of Carbon Materials of Zhejiang Province College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering Wenzhou University Wenzhou 325035 P. R. ChinaFunctional Polymers & Advanced Materials (FPAM) Lab State Key Laboratory of Advanced Separation Membrane Materials College of Materials Science and Engineering Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou 310014 P. R. ChinaDepartment of Chemistry Tsinghua University Beijing 100084 P. R. ChinaAbstract The growing scarcity of freshwater, driven by climate change and pollution, necessitates the development of efficient and sustainable desalination technologies. Solar‐powered interfacial water evaporation has emerged as a promising solution; however, its practical implementation is hindered by the limited availability of efficient and stable photothermal materials. Herein, a bandgap engineering strategy via linker modification to enhance the photothermal conversion capability of metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) is reported toward efficient solar‐driven desalination. By systematically introducing functional groups with varying electron‐donating and electron‐withdrawing abilities, the energy bandgap of UiO–66–X (X = ─F, ─H, ─OH, ─NH2, ─(NH2)2) is finely tuned. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and femtosecond transient absorption (fs–TA) spectroscopy reveal that stronger electron‐donating functional groups narrow the bandgap of the MOFs, thereby improving their photothermal conversion efficiency. The optimized UiO–66–(NH2)2 material reaches a peak surface temperature of 58.7 °C when exposed to simulated sunlight at ≈1 kW·m−2 with a photothermal conversion efficiency of 86.50% and an evaporation rate of 2.34 kg·m−2·h−1 with an evaporation efficiency of 97.40%. This study presents a novel approach for fine‐tuning the bandgap in photothermal materials, offering a pathway toward advanced solar desalination technologies to address the global water scarcity crisis.https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202502989bandgap engineeringmetal‐organic frameworksphotothermal conversionsolar water evaporationlinker
spellingShingle Qisheng Shao
Yutong Ding
Wenxian Liu
Jia Guan
Ge Meng
Tairong Kuang
Dingsheng Wang
Bandgap Engineering on UiO–66 Metal‐Organic Framework Derivatives for Solar‐Driven Seawater Desalination
Advanced Science
bandgap engineering
metal‐organic frameworks
photothermal conversion
solar water evaporation
linker
title Bandgap Engineering on UiO–66 Metal‐Organic Framework Derivatives for Solar‐Driven Seawater Desalination
title_full Bandgap Engineering on UiO–66 Metal‐Organic Framework Derivatives for Solar‐Driven Seawater Desalination
title_fullStr Bandgap Engineering on UiO–66 Metal‐Organic Framework Derivatives for Solar‐Driven Seawater Desalination
title_full_unstemmed Bandgap Engineering on UiO–66 Metal‐Organic Framework Derivatives for Solar‐Driven Seawater Desalination
title_short Bandgap Engineering on UiO–66 Metal‐Organic Framework Derivatives for Solar‐Driven Seawater Desalination
title_sort bandgap engineering on uio 66 metal organic framework derivatives for solar driven seawater desalination
topic bandgap engineering
metal‐organic frameworks
photothermal conversion
solar water evaporation
linker
url https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202502989
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AT wenxianliu bandgapengineeringonuio66metalorganicframeworkderivativesforsolardrivenseawaterdesalination
AT jiaguan bandgapengineeringonuio66metalorganicframeworkderivativesforsolardrivenseawaterdesalination
AT gemeng bandgapengineeringonuio66metalorganicframeworkderivativesforsolardrivenseawaterdesalination
AT tairongkuang bandgapengineeringonuio66metalorganicframeworkderivativesforsolardrivenseawaterdesalination
AT dingshengwang bandgapengineeringonuio66metalorganicframeworkderivativesforsolardrivenseawaterdesalination