Achieving High-Quality Freshwater from a Self-Sustainable Integrated Solar Redox-Flow Desalination Device

Karthick Ramalingam; Qiang Wei; Fuming Chen; Kaixiang Shen; Mengjun Liang; Jinhong Dai; Xianhua Hou; Qiang Ru; Ganguli Babu; Qinyu He; Pulickel M Ajayan

doi:10.1002/smll.202100490

Achieving High-Quality Freshwater from a Self-Sustainable Integrated Solar Redox-Flow Desalination Device

Small. 2021 Jul;17(30):e2100490. doi: 10.1002/smll.202100490. Epub 2021 Jun 23.

Authors

Karthick Ramalingam^{1

2}, Qiang Wei^{1

2}, Fuming Chen^{1

2}, Kaixiang Shen^{1

2}, Mengjun Liang^{1

2}, Jinhong Dai^{1

2}, Xianhua Hou^{1

2}, Qiang Ru^{1

2}, Ganguli Babu³, Qinyu He^{1

2}, Pulickel M Ajayan³

Affiliations

¹ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center of Efficient Green Energy and Environment Protection Materials, School of Physics and Telecommunication Engineering, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, P. R. China.
² Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory of Quantum Matter, Frontier Research Institute for Physics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
³ Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Department Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, Texas, 77005, USA.

PMID: 34160139
DOI: 10.1002/smll.202100490

Abstract

Solar-assisted electrochemical desalination has offered a new energy-water nexus technology for sustainable development in recent studies. However, only a few reports have demonstrated insufficient photocurrent, a low salt removal rate, and poor stability. In this study, a high-quality freshwater level of 5-10 ppm (from an initial feed of 10 000 ppm), an enhanced salt removal rate (217.8 µg cm^-2 min^-1 of NaCl), and improved cycling and long-term stability are achieved by integrating dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and redox-flow desalination (RFD) under light irradiation without additional electrical energy consumption. The DSSC redox electrolyte (I^- /I₃^- ) is circulated between the photoanode (N719/TiO₂ ) and intermediate electrode (graphite paper). Two DSSCs in parallel or series connections are directly coupled to the RFD device. Overall, this hybrid system can be used to boost photo electrochemical desalination technology. The energy-water nexus technology will open a new route for dual-role devices with photodesalination functions without energy consumption and solar-to-electricity generation.

Keywords: energy consumption; photodesalination; photoelectrochemical desalination; redox-flow desalination; salt removal rate.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Electrodes
Fresh Water
Oxidation-Reduction
Sunlight
Water Purification*