Mechanism of ball milled activated carbon in improving the desalination performance of flow- and fixed-electrode in capacitive deionization desalination

● BACs were used in electrode material for both fixed and flowing electrodes. ● ASAR of FCDI and MCDI was improved by 134% and 17%, respectively. ● ENRS of FCDI and MCDI was improved by 21% and 53%. ● The mechanism of improving desalination performance was analyzed in detail. Capacitive deionization (CDI) is a novel electrochemical water-treatment technology. The electrode material is an important factor in determining the ion separation efficiency. Activated carbon (AC) is extensively used as an electrode material; however, there are still many deficiencies in commercial AC. We adopted a simple processing method, ball milling, to produce ball milled AC (BAC) to improve the physical and electrochemical properties of the original AC and desalination efficiency. The BAC was characterized in detail and used for membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) and flow-electrode capacitive deionization (FCDI) electrode materials. After ball milling, the BAC obtained excellent pore structures and favorable surfaces for ion adsorption, which reduced electron transfer resistance and ion migration resistance in the electrodes. The optimal ball-milling time was 10 h. However, the improved effects of BAC as fixed electrodes and flow electrodes are different and the related mechanisms are discussed in detail. The average salt adsorption rates (ASAR) of FCDI and MCDI were improved by 134% and 17%, respectively, and the energy-normalized removal salt (ENRS) were enhanced by 21% and 53%, respectively. We believe that simple, low-cost, and environmentally friendly BAC has great potential for practical engineering applications of FCDI and MCDI.