Cross-stacked super-aligned carbon nanotube/activated carbon composite electrodes for efficient water purification via capacitive deionization enhanced ultrafiltration

• A high-performance electrode was prepared with super-aligned carbon nanotubes. • SACNT/AC electrode achieved a ~100% increase in desalination capacity and rate. • SACNT/AC electrode achieved a ~26% increase in charge efficiency. • CUF process with SACNT/AC achieved an up to 2.43-fold fouling reduction. • SACNT/AC imparts overall improved water purification efficiency. The practical application of the capacitive deionization (CDI) enhanced ultrafiltration (CUF) technology is hampered due to low performance of electrodes. The current study demonstrated a novel super-aligned carbon nanotube (SACNT)/activated carbon (AC) composite electrode, which was prepared through coating AC on a cross-stacked SACNT film. The desalination capability and water purification performance of the prepared electrode were systematically investigated at different applied voltages (0.8–1.2 V) with a CDI system and a CUF system, respectively. In the CDI tests, as compared with the control AC electrode, the SACNT/AC electrode achieved an approximately 100% increase in both maximum salt adsorption capacity and average salt adsorption rate under all the applied voltage conditions, demonstrating a superior desalination capability. Meanwhile, a conspicuous increase by an average of ~26% in charge efficiency was also achieved at all the voltages. In the CUF tests, as compared with the control run at 0 V, the treatment runs at 0.8, 1.0, and 1.2 V achieved a 2.40-fold, 2.08-fold, and 2.43-fold reduction in membrane fouling (calculated according to the final transmembrane pressure (TMP) data at the end of every purification stage), respectively. The average TMP increasing rates at 0.8, 1.0, and 1.2 V were also roughly two times smaller than that at 0 V, indicating a dramatical reduction of membrane fouling. The SACNT/AC electrode also maintained its superior desalination capability in the CUF process, resulting in an overall improved water purification efficiency.     

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.     

Insight into the promotion mechanism of activated carbon on the monolithic honeycomb red mud catalyst for selective catalytic reduction of NOx

• Activated carbon was proposed to be an efficient accelerant for molded red mud catalyst. • The surface acidity and reducibility were highly improved, as well as the pore structure. • The enrichment of the surface Fe²⁺ and the adsorbed oxygen account for the improvement. Our previous study proved that the acid-pretreatment process could efficiently activate red mud (RM) for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO_x. However, in terms of the molding process, which is the key step determining whether it can be applied in large-scale industrial, the surface acidity and reducibility of catalyst always decreased dramatically, and part of surface area and pore structure were lost. In this study, we prepared monolithic honeycomb red mud (MHRM) catalysts with activated carbon (AC) as an accelerant and investigated the effect of AC on the MHRM. The results showed that the MHRM with 3 wt.% of AC (MHRM-AC3) exhibited the best SCR performance, and kept more than 80% NO_x conversion in the range of 325°C–400°C. Compared with the MHRM, MHRM-AC1, and HMRM-AC5, the MHRM-AC3 has more mesoporous and macroporous structures, which can provide more adsorption active sites. The AC significantly improved NH₃ adsorption and surface reducibility, which was mainly due to the increase of the surface acid sites (especially the Brönsted acid sites), the concentration of Fe(II), and the surface adsorbed oxygen. The presence of more Fe(II) enriched the surface oxygen vacancies, as well as the surface adsorbed oxygen, due to the charge imbalance and unsaturated chemical bond. And surface adsorbed oxygen exhibited more active than lattice oxygen owing to its higher mobility, which was conducive to NO_x reduction in the SCR reaction.