Capacitive deionization concept based on suspension electrodes without ion exchange membranes

Kelsey B. Hatzell , Etsuro Iwama (1, 2) , Anaïs Ferris (1) , Barbara Daffos (1) , Koki Urita (1, 3) , Théodore Tzedakis (4) , Fabien Chauvet (4) , Pierre-Louis Taberna (1) , Yury Gogotsi , Patrice Simon (1)

1 CIRIMAT - Centre interuniversitaire de recherche et d'ingénierie des matériaux
2 TUAT - Department of Chemical Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
3 Nagasaki University
4 LGC - Laboratoire de Génie Chimique

A new type of capacitive deionization (CDI) system, based on capacitive suspension electrodes (CSEs), was developed for the purpose of desalting brackish and seawater through the use of flowable carbon suspensions. CSEs derived from activated carbon and acetylene black demonstrated a specific capacitance of 92 F g− 1 in a static mode in a 0.6 M NaCl solution. The novel system introduced here is a proof of concept that capacitive suspension electrodes can be envisioned to desalt water without the aid of ion exchange membranes (IEMs).

Keywords: Capacitive deionization; Capacitive suspension electrodes; Water desalination; Electrochemical flow capacitor; Flowable electrodes

Domains: Chemical engineering; Chemical and Process Engineering; Materials

Kelsey B. Hatzell, Etsuro Iwama, Anaïs Ferris, Barbara Daffos, Koki Urita, et al.. Capacitive deionization concept based on suspension electrodes without ion exchange membranes. Electrochemistry Communications, 2014, 43, pp.18-21. ⟨10.1016/j.elecom.2014.03.003⟩. ⟨hal-01917272⟩