Hybrid of pyrazine based π-conjugated organic molecule and MXene for hybrid capacitive deionization

•HATN with rich electroactive sites and MXene jointly build a unique 3D structure.•HATN/MXene hybrid was applied as capacitive deionization electrode.•HATN/MXene exhibits a good performance with high desalination capacity and rate. In this work, we report a hybrid material of pyrazine based π-conjugated organic molecule, hexaazatrinaphthalene (HATN), and MXene. In this hybrid, MXene serves as a conductive substrate and HATN provides multiple electroactive sites, which are jointly combined to build a unique 3D structure with more ion transport channels for accelerating the charge transfer and ion diffusion rates. The as-obtained HATN/MXene composite displays a superior desalination capacity of 57.5 mg g−1 with an excellent desalination rate of 13.2 mg g−1 min−1 and good long-term stability. This work provides a meaningful guidance for designing and applying organic molecules in capacitive deionization field.