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Vol. 17 (2025)

Locally Enhanced Flow and Electric Fields Through a Tip Effect for Efficient Flow-Electrode Capacitive Deionization

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-024-01531-0
Ziquan Wang
College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, People’s Republic of China
Xiangfeng Chen
College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, People’s Republic of China
Yuan Zhang
College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, People’s Republic of China
Jie Ma
Research Center for Environmental Functional Materials, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, People’s Republic of China
Zhiqun Lin
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117585, Singapore
Amor Abdelkader
Department of Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, England BH12 5BB, UK
Maria‑Magdalena Titirici
Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, Exhibition Rd, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Libo Deng
College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Libo Deng

Denglb@szu.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 17 (2025), Article Number: 26

Abstract

Low-electrode capacitive deionization (FCDI) is an emerging desalination technology with great potential for removal and/or recycling ions from a range of waters. However, it still suffers from inefficient charge transfer and ion transport kinetics due to weak turbulence and low electric intensity in flow electrodes, both restricted by the current collectors. Herein, a new tip-array current collector (designated as T-CC) was developed to replace the conventional planar current collectors, which intensifies both the charge transfer and ion transport significantly. The effects of tip arrays on flow and electric fields were studied by both computational simulations and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, which revealed the reduction of ion transport barrier, charge transport barrier and internal resistance. With the voltage increased from 1.0 to 1.5 and 2.0 V, the T-CC-based FCDI system (T-FCDI) exhibited average salt removal rates (ASRR) of 0.18, 0.50, and 0.89 μmol cm−2 min−1, respectively, which are 1.82, 2.65, and 2.48 folds higher than that of the conventional serpentine current collectors, and 1.48, 1.67, and 1.49 folds higher than that of the planar current collectors. Meanwhile, with the solid content in flow electrodes increased from 1 to 5 wt%, the ASRR for T-FCDI increased from 0.29 to 0.50 μmol cm−2 min−1, which are 1.70 and 1.67 folds higher than that of the planar current collectors. Additionally, a salt removal efficiency of 99.89% was achieved with T-FCDI and the charge efficiency remained above 95% after 24 h of operation, thus showing its superior long-term stability.


Highlights:
1 Steel tip arrays were used as current collectors to replace planar conductors.
2 Optimal flow and electric fields reduced barriers for electron and ion transport.
3 Desalination performance of flow-electrode capacitive deionization is enhanced by the tip-array current collectors.

Keywords

Flow-electrode Capacitive deionization Current collector Tip effect Desalination
Wang, Ziquan, Xiangfeng Chen, Yuan Zhang, Jie Ma, Zhiqun Lin, Amor Abdelkader, Maria‑Magdalena Titirici, and Libo Deng. 2024. “Locally Enhanced Flow and Electric Fields Through a Tip Effect for Efficient Flow-Electrode Capacitive Deionization”. Nano-Micro Letters 17 (September):26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-024-01531-0.
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