Interfacial Thermodynamics of Ti ₃ C ₂ T x MXene-PVDF-PTFE Triple Interface Systems for Hierarchical Membrane Distillation

MXene-based nanochannels created thermodynamic selectivity barriers enabling >99.6% salt rejection over 36 h operation. The composite membranes exhibited substantially reduced NaCl crystallization/deposition compared to pristine PVDF, attributed to modified surface energetics and hierarchical pore architectures that disrupt salt nucleation. Thermal analysis revealed a compounding energy benefit: higher membrane porosity reduced the effective thermal conductivity and conductive heat loss while the enhanced vapor flux increased the evaporative heat flux, raising thermal efficiency from 49% for pristine PVDF to 68% for the optimized MXene-PVDF composite and demonstrating that flux enhancement and energy efficiency can be improved simultaneously rather than traded off against each other.