1. Low porosity, high areal-capacity Prussian blue analogue electrodes enhance salt removal and thermodynamic efficiency in symmetric Faradaic deionization with automated fluid control
- Author
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Erik R. Reale, Lyle Regenwetter, Adreet Agrawal, Brian Dardón, Nicholas Dicola, Sathvik Sanagala, and Kyle C. Smith
- Subjects
Desalination ,Faradaic deionization ,Thermodynamic energy efficiency ,Colloids ,Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering ,TD1-1066 - Abstract
Prussian blue analogues (PBAs) show great potential for low-energy Faradaic deionization (FDI) with reversible Na-ion capacity approaching 5 M in the solid-state. However, past continuous-flow demonstrations using PBAs in FDI were unable to desalinate brackish water to potable levels using single-pass architectures. Here, we show that recirculation of effluent from a symmetric cation intercalation desalination cell into brine/diluate reservoirs enables salt removal exceeding 80% at thermodynamic efficiency as high as 80% when cycled with 100 mM NaCl influent and when controlled by a low-volume, automated fluid circuit. This exceptional performance is achieved using a novel heated, alkaline wet phase inversion process that modulates colloidal forces to increase carbon black aggregation within electrode slurries to solidify crack-free, high areal-capacity PBA electrodes that are calendered to minimize cell impedance and electrode porosity. The results obtained demonstrate the need for co-design of auxiliary fluid-control systems together with electrode materials to advance FDI beyond brackish salinity.
- Published
- 2021
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