Desalination Alternative Technology in Conjunction with Membrane Capacitive Deionization (MCDI): A Literature Review Article

Water and energy shortages came due to rapid population growth, living standards and rapid development in the agriculture and industrial sectors. Desalination tends to be one of the most promising water solutions;however, it is a process of intense energy. Membrane Capacitive Deionization (MCDI) has received considerable interest as a promising desalination technology, and MCDI research has increased significantly over the last 10 years. In addition, there are no guidelines for the design of Capacitive Deionization (CDI) implementation strategies for individual applications. This study, therefore;provides an alternative of CDI’s recent application developments, with emphasis placed on hybrid systems to address the technological needs of different relevant fields. The MCDI’s energy consumption is compared with the reverse osmosis literature data based on experimental data from laboratory-scale system. The study demonstrates that MCDI technology is a promising technology in the next few years with an extreme competition in water recovery, energy consumption and salt removal for reverse osmosis.

Hierarchically porous biochar derived from aerobic granular sludge for high-performance membrane capacitive deionization

Membrane capacitive deionization(MCDI)is a cost-effective desalination technique known for its low energy consumption.The performance of MCDI cells relies on the properties of electrode materials.Activated carbon is the most widely used electrode material.However,the capacitive carbon available on the market is often expensive.Here,we developed hierarchically porous biochar by combining carbonization and activation processes,using easily acquired aerobic granular sludge(AGS)from biological sewage treatment plants as a precursor.The biochar had a specific surface area of 1822.07 m^(2)g^(-1),with a micropore area ratio of 58.65%and a micropore volume of 0.576 cm3 g^(-1).The MCDI cell employing the biochar as electrodes demonstrated a specific adsorption capacity of 34.35 mg g^(-1),comparable to commercially available activated carbon electrodes.Our study presents a green and sustainable approach for preparing highly efficient,hierarchically porous biochar from AGS,offering great potential for enhanced performance in MCDI applications.

Penicillin fermentation residue biochar as a high-performance electrode for membrane capacitive deionization

Membrane capacitive deionization(MCDI)is an efficient desalination technology for brine.Penicillin fermentation residue biochar(PFRB)possesses a hierarchical porous and O/N-doped structure which could serve as a high-capacity desalination electrode in the MCDI system.Under optimal conditions(electrode weight,voltage,and concentration)and a carbonization temperature of 700℃,the maximum salt adsorption capacity of the electrode can reach 26.4 mg/g,which is higher than that of most carbon electrodes.Furthermore,the electrochemical properties of the PFRB electrode were characterized through cyclic voltammetry(CV)and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS)with a maximum specific capacitance of 212.18 F/g.Finally,biotoxicity tests have showed that PFRB was non-biotoxin against luminescent bacteria and the MCDI system with the PFRB electrode remained stable even after 27 adsorption–desorption cycles.This study provides a novel way to recycle penicillin residue and an electrode that can achieve excellent desalination.