Interfacial solar steam generators enable sustainable freshwater production via photothermal conversion, yet effective purification of both feed water and distillate remains challenging. Here, a mechanically interlocked MXene/boron-doped mesoporous g-C₃N₄ nanosphere (BMNS) hybrid membrane is engineered through vacuum-assisted self-assembly, synergistically coupling ultraefficient photothermal evaporation with robust photocatalytic degradation. The BMNS nanospheres embedded in loosely stacked MXene nanosheets establish rapid water transport nanochannels while achieving ultralow thermal conductivity (0.43 W·m⁻¹·K⁻¹). This structure enabled a high solar evaporation rate of 2.10 kg·m⁻²·h⁻¹ and achieved a photothermal conversion efficiency of 98.1%. Simultaneously, the generated reactive oxygen species (·OH/·O₂⁻) degraded 95.6% of the organic pollutants (10 ppm Rhodamine B) within 4 h. Furthermore, it maintained a stable evaporation rate of 2.00 kg·m⁻²·h⁻¹ over a long-term operation of 200 h. Field validation using eutrophic lake water demonstrates concurrent clean water production and comprehensive purification: 90.0% total organic carbon removal, 92.0% chemical oxygen demand reduction, 93.1% microbial inactivation, improved optical clarity, and > 99% antibacterial efficiency against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. This work provides a scalable blueprint for multifunctional membranes addressing water scarcity and pollution simultaneously.

Conductive gels have shown vast potential as flexible sensors for applications in health monitoring, soft robots, and human–machine interfaces. Nevertheless, there remains a significant challenge to integrate low hysteresis, environmental tolerance, and high sensitivity in one component for accurate and stable signal outputs. In this work, a conductive organohydrogel is prepared by the radical polymerization of 3-acrylamidophenylboronic acid (APBA) and acrylamide (AM) in the presence of MXene followed by a solvent-replacement strategy. The organohydrogel exhibits high stretchability (> 900%), robust elasticity (residual strain < 12%), superior environmental tolerance (−60 to 60 °C), and long-term stability in an open environment (> 60 days) owing to the presence of B–N coordination and multiple hydrogen-bonding interactions within the gel network. As a flexible sensor, it can precisely distinguish successive tiny (1%) and large tensile strains (700%) even stored at −20 °C for 7 days, and output reliable electrical signals of electrocardiograms and electromyograms with neglectable attenuation when exposed at the ambient environment for one week. Moreover, the organohydrogel shows remarkable temperature sensitivity with temperature coefficient of resistance of −2.71 %/°C, and can accurately differentiate the temperatures of different human body parts with tiny differences for health monitoring. Our work may give a solution to design reliable gel-based flexible sensors for various applications.

Porous carbon (PC) materials have unique structures and excellent physicochemical properties, which offer significant advantages in the field of electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption materials. However, how to utilize available raw materials and practical preparation techniques is a major challenge for PC microwave absorption materials to achieve engineering applications. In this study, inexpensive coal tar pitch (CTP) was used as a carbon source to prepare PC microwave absorbers. Firstly, hyper-crosslinked polymers (HCPs) were prepared by selectively crosslinking the aromatic components in CTP via Friedel-Crafts reaction using chloroalkanes as crosslinking agents. Further, PC materials with uniform structure were also prepared by simple high-temperature carbonization. The effects of cross-linker type (CH₂Cl₂, CHCl₃ and CCl₄) and carbonization temperature (600, 700, and 800 °C) on the microstructure, crystallization, dielectric and microwave absorption properties of PC materials were systematically studied. After modulation and optimization, all CTP-based PCs have uniform pore structure with a maximum specific surface area of 533.93 m²/g. The PC with CHCl₃ as cross-linking agent carbonized at 700 °C showed the exceptional microwave absorption performance, with the minimum refection loss (RL_min) of −43.08 dB and the maximum effective absorption bandwidth (EAB_max) of 5.44 GHz. Meanwhile, the RL_min of CCl₄-PC-800 also achieved −47.28 dB. This work has developed a simple and low-cost method for preparing PC microwave absorption materials, which has the potential to enable the mass production and engineering application of PCs, as well as facilitating processing technology innovation and high value-added utilization of CTP.

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) nanosheets have attracted widespread interest in the construction of advanced separation membranes. However, dense stacking and a single functionality have limited the membrane development. Here, an advanced two-/three-dimensional (2D/3D) g-C₃N₄/TiO₂@MnO₂ membrane is constructed by intercalating 3D TiO₂@MnO₂ nanostructures into g-C₃N₄ nanosheets. The 3D flower-like nanostructures broaden the transport channels of the composite membrane. The membrane can effectively separate five oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions, with a maximum flux of 3265.67 ± 15.01 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹·bar⁻¹ and a maximum efficiency of 99.69% ± 0.45% for toluene-in-water emulsion (T/W). Meanwhile, the TiO₂@MnO₂ acts as an excellent electron acceptor and provides positive spatial separation of electrons–holes (e⁻–h⁺). The formation of 2D/3D heterojunctions allows the material with wider light absorption and smaller bandgap (2.10 eV). These photoelectric properties give the membrane good degradation of three different pollutants, with about 100% degradation for methylene blue (MB) and malachite green (MG). The photocatalytic antibacterial efficiency of the membrane is also about 100%. After cyclic experiment, the membrane maintains its original separation and photocatalytic capabilities. The remarkable multifunctional and self-cleaning properties of the g-C₃N₄ based membrane represent its potential value for complex wastewater treatment.