Current electrochemical technologies used to desalinate water are limited by their need for expensive membranes and/or electrode materials with insufficient salt storage capacities. To identify electrode materials with higher salt storage capacities, we have surveyed a suite of faradaic electrode materials that have previously been shown to reversibly intercalate cations in water. We examined several classes of materials, including Prussian Blue analogs, metal nitrides, metal oxides, and spinels. We measured each material's physical properties, electrochemical properties, and the rate and extent to which it desalinates synthetic saltwater in an electrochemical flow cell. The aim of this work is to identify the class of materials that exhibits the highest cation removal extent and/or rate and to determine the underlying mechanism(s), which will ultimately lead to a framework for optimizing electrode material design.

Surveying faradaic electrode materials for efficient electrochemical water desalination

2019 Spring National Meeting

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