Efficiency Enhancement of Electro-Adsorption Desalination Using Iron Oxide Nanoparticle-Incorporated Activated Carbon Nanocomposite

Ahmed S Yasin; Ahmed Yousef Mohamed; Donghyun Kim; Sungmin Yoon; Howon Ra; Kyubock Lee

doi:10.3390/mi12101148

Efficiency Enhancement of Electro-Adsorption Desalination Using Iron Oxide Nanoparticle-Incorporated Activated Carbon Nanocomposite

Micromachines (Basel). 2021 Sep 24;12(10):1148. doi: 10.3390/mi12101148.

Authors

Ahmed S Yasin¹, Ahmed Yousef Mohamed², Donghyun Kim¹, Sungmin Yoon^{1

3}, Howon Ra³, Kyubock Lee¹

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Energy Science and Technology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea.
² IPIT & Department of Physics, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Korea.
³ Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), 152 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34129, Korea.

Abstract

Capacitive deionization (CDI) technology is currently considered a potential candidate for brackish water desalination. In this study, we designed iron oxide nanoparticle-incorporated activated carbon (AC/Fe₂O₃) via a facile and cost-effective hydrothermal process. The as-synthesized material was characterized using several techniques and tested as electrodes in CDI applications. We found that the distinctive properties of the AC/Fe₂O₃ electrode, i.e., high wettability, high surface area, unique structural morphology, and high conductivity, resulted in promising CDI performance. The electrosorptive capacity of the AC/Fe₂O₃ nanocomposite reached 6.76 mg g^-1 in the CDI process, with a high specific capacitance of 1157.5 F g^-1 at 10 mV s^-1 in a 1 M NaCl electrolyte. This study confirms the potential use of AC/Fe₂O₃ nanocomposites as viable electrode materials in CDI and other electrochemical applications.

Keywords: AC/Fe2O3; capacitive deionization; electrode; hydrothermal.