Graphene-Bridged MXene Aerogel with Vertically Aligned Channels for Solar Evaporation and Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

Abstract

Aerogels based on pliable nanomaterials hold great potential for diverse applications. Herein, a bifunctional reduced graphene oxide-bridged MXene (rGM) aerogel with vertically aligned channels is fabricated via a facile directional freezing and mild thermal annealing strategy. This architectural design effectively mitigates the restacking and oxidation issues of MXene while optimizing its synergistic performance for solar evaporation and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. The rGM aerogel thereby exhibits exceptional sunlight absorption (~96.2%), superior wettability, and efficient photothermal conversion. As a solar evaporator, it achieves a high evaporation rate of 2.62 kg m−2 h−1 and an energy efficiency of 91.68% under 1 sun illumination. Moreover, the synergistic conductive loss and multiple internal reflections within the aerogel deliver an outstanding EMI shielding effectiveness of 35.67 dB in the X-band (8.2−12.4 GHz). This work provides a versatile strategy for designing advanced aerogels that integrate efficient solar-thermal conversion with high-performance EMI shielding, opening promising avenues for multifunctional aerogel materials.