High Electrochemical Seawater Desalination Performance Enabled by an Iodide Redox Electrolyte Paired with a Sodium Superionic Conductor

Author(s)

Lee, Juhan ^{[1, 2, 3]} ; Srimuk, Pattarachai ^{[1, 2]} ; Zornitta, Rafael L. ^{[4, 1]} ; Aslan, Mesut ^[1] ; Mehdi, B. Layla ^[3] ; Presser, Volker ^{[1, 2]}

Affiliation

^[1] INM Leibniz Inst New Mat, Campus D2 2, D-66123 Saarbrucken - Germany

^[2] Saarland Univ, Dept Mat Sci & Engn, Campus D2 2, D-66123 Saarbrucken - Germany

^[3] Univ Liverpool, Sch Engn, 514 Brodie Hall, Liverpool L69 3GQ, Merseyside - England

^[4] Univ Fed Sao Carlos, Dept Chem Engn, BR-13565905 Sao Carlos, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING; v. 7, n. 11, p. 10132-10142, JUN 3 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 1

Abstract

In recent years, a wealth of new desalination technologies based on reversible electrochemical redox reactions has emerged. Among them, the use of redox-active electrolytes is highly attractive due to the high production rate and energy efficiency. Yet, these technologies suffer from the imperfect permselectivity of polymer membranes. Our present work demonstrates the promising desalination performance of a sodium superionic conductor (NASICON) for selective removal of sodium against iodide in a half-cell configuration consisting of an activated carbon electrode in aqueous 600 mM NaI solution. For feedwater with aqueous 600 mM NaCl, the desalination cell exhibited a stable performance over a month with more than 400 operation cycles with the aid of high sodium permselectivity of the NASICON membrane against iodide (99.9-100%). The cell exhibited a maximum sodium removal capacity of 69 +/- 4 mg/g (equivalent to the NaCl salt uptake capacity of 87 +/- 4 mg/g) with a charge efficiency of 81 +/- 3%. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/24684-4 - Development of activated carbon from lignin as electrode for capacitive deionization of multicomponent solutions
• Grantee: Rafael Linzmeyer Zornitta
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 15/26593-3 - Desalination using capacitive deionization: development of new electrodes and process optimization
• Grantee: Rafael Linzmeyer Zornitta
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate