Structure regulation of two-dimensional composites facilitates solar/electric desalination

Solar and electric seawater desalination methods are two effective strategies due to their low cost, energy saving, and environmental friendliness. Two-dimensional (2D) material exhibits accelerated mass/energy transfer in solar and electric seawater desalination. However, the light reflection of material and the aggregation of 2D nanosheets results in insufficient photothermal conversion rate in solar desalination and/or poor electron transfer in electric desalination. Despite the achieved progress in tailoring 2D composites, more comprehensive and insightful reports on 2D composites for solar/electric desalination from structure regulation perspective were not retrieved. So, it is urgent to systematically summarize and elucidate the science essence of 2D composites to promote solar/electric desalination performance through structural regulation. In this review, focusing on material science, we discuss the relationship between structure (viz. intrinsic, interface, and macroscopic structure) of 2D composites and solar/electric desalination performance. Specifically, we discuss how to regulate the structure to reduce the light reflection, enhance the light absorption and promote the water transport in solar desalination, as well as to accelerate the electron/ion transfer in electric desalination. Additionally, the influence of the determinants of 2D composites on the desalination performance is highlighted. Finally, we summarize the challenges and provide our perspective about 2D composites for future solar/electric seawater desalination. This review offers a systematic reference and puts forward a potential regulating direction for 2D composites in facilitating mass/energy transfer during solar/electric desalination process.