Rocking-Chair Capacitive Deionization for Continuous Brackish Water

Jul 6, 2018 - Capacitive deionization (CDI) is considered an alternative desalination technology due to its easy operation, high energy efficiency, an...
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Rocking Chair Capacitive Deionization for Continuous Brackish Water Desalination Jaehan Lee, Kyusik Jo, Jiho Lee, Sung Pil Hong, Seonghwan Kim, and Jeyong Yoon ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b02123 • Publication Date (Web): 06 Jul 2018 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on July 6, 2018

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Rocking Chair Capacitive Deionization for

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Continuous Brackish Water Desalination

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Jaehan Lee,†,‡ Kyusik Jo,† Jiho Lee,† Sung Pil Hong,† Seonghwan Kim,†,‡ Jeyong Yoon*,†,‡ †

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School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, College of Engineering, Institute of

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Chemical Process, Seoul National University (SNU), 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826,

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Republic of Korea

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Asian Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability (AIEES), Seoul National University (SNU), 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea

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Jeyong Yoon (corresponding author)

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E-mail: [email protected]; Phone: +82-2-880-8927; Fax: +82-2-876-8911

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Keywords: desalination, electrochemical process, capacitive deionization, Nafion, activated carbon

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Abstract

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Capacitive deionization (CDI) is considered an alternative desalination technology due to its

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easy operation, high energy efficiency and environmentally friendly process. However, a

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separate regeneration step is required in typical CDI technologies that releases the absorbed

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ions on the electrodes which results in an inefficient and cost-intensive process. This study

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proposed a novel CDI system referred to as “rocking chair capacitive deionization (RCDI)”

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that has a continuous brackish water desalination process which consists of a pair of Nafion

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coated activated carbon electrodes and an anion exchange membrane. The coated Nafion

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contributed to the cation selectivity of the carbon electrode, and it enabled a continuous

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desalination process during constant current operation through a rocking chair ion movement.

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From the desalination tests that included the analysis of the CDI Ragone plot, the RCDI has a

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high salt adsorption capacity (maximum of 44.5 mg g-1) with continuous operation.

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Furthermore, the RCDI desalted brackish water under rapid operation conditions (up to ±30.0

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A m-2) which is a constant current operation condition that is several times higher than that of

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previously reported desalination technologies using battery materials. Consequently, this

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study proposes a new strategy for a continuous desalination CDI system that provides a high

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performance and energy efficient desalination process for brackish water.

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Introduction

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The demand for fresh water is increasing due to the rapid population growth and enhanced

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living standards in the world; hence, water scarcity is becoming a serious issue across the

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world.1-2 Currently, the desalination of salt water is considered as one of the feasible methods

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to provide fresh water. However, well-developed desalination processes such as reverse

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osmosis (RO), electrodialysis (ED), and distillation require not only large-scale infrastructure

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but also have a high cost for controlling fouling during operations. Therefore, it is desirable

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to develop a novel desalination technology with simple equipment, easy operation and high

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energy efficiency.3-5

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Among the various desalination technologies, capacitive deionization (CDI) is considered as

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one of the promising desalination technologies because of its energy-efficient, eco-friendly,

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facile operation. CDI is an electrochemical desalination technology to produce fresh water

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from salt water, and the charged ions of the source water are removed by capacitive

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electrosorption.6-14 Typically, CDI consists of two porous electrodes that have high surface

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areas, and the feed stream flows between the electrodes. When applying a potential between

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the two electrodes, cations and anions in the feed stream are adsorbed onto the surfaces of the

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electrodes by forming an electrical double layer which results in the production of deionized

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water. After charging the cell, adsorbed ions are released by discharging or applying a reverse

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potential which creates a brine solution. However, further applications of conventional CDI

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are limited due to its low salt adsorption capacity (0.1 to 15 mg g-1), low charge efficiency

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(30 to 70%), and poor cycling stability. Moreover, CDI requires a separate regeneration step

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to release the absorbed ions on the electrodes resulting in an inefficient, time-intensive

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process.15-18 To overcome the limitations of these disadvantages, various attempts have been 3

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reported including using novel cell architectures, such as water desalination with a wire-

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electrode, flow-electrode CDI (FCDI), and multi-channel flow stream membrane CDI.19-23

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A wire-based capacitive desalination is constructed by coating a porous carbon material onto

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conductive wire electrode pairs. In this system, a feed stream splits into two compartments

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(dilute and concentrated), and the solution in the dilute compartment is continuously

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deionized by the wire-electrodes which is then dipped into the solution in the concentrated

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compartment where the adsorbed ions are released. FCDI is a novel CDI architecture that

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uses flowable carbon suspensions as electrode rather than static electrodes. FCDI enables a

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continuous desalination process through a consistent supply of flow-electrodes that are

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regenerated in separate components either through a short circuit or discharge by applying a

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reverse potential. Multi-channel flow stream membrane CDI (MC-MCDI) is a recently

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reported CDI system in which the cell consists of middle and side channels separated by ion

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exchange membranes. This newly designed CDI enables a semi-continuous desalination

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process that alternately produces a dilute and concentrated solution at the middle and side

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channels.

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Recently, continuous electrochemical desalination technologies that have been developed

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using battery materials for continuous operation are referred to as a rocking chair desalination

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battery, battery electrode deionization, and cation intercalation desalination (CID).24-28 These

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technologies consist of two battery electrodes that react with a cation and anion exchange

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membrane. The cation selectivity of the battery materials enables continuous ion removal.

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Although these technologies have a high desalination capacity (approximately 30 to 100 mg

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g-1) with efficient energy consumption, they have limited performance in terms of the

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desalination rate (below 5.0 A m-2 in constant current operation) because the ion 4

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capturing/releasing process is based on a chemical reaction. Additionally, improving the

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cycling life of the battery material still remains a challenge.

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In addition to these approaches, this study proposes a continuous CDI system based on the

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rocking-chair ion movement using Nafion coated activated carbon electrodes referred to as

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“rocking chair capacitive deionization (RCDI), which has a superior desalination rate and

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stability compared to previous continuous desalination systems using battery materials.

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Figure 1 shows the schematic of the RCDI and the operation mechanism during the constant

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current operation. The RCDI consists of two cation selective resin-coated electrodes and an

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anion exchange membrane similar to electrodialysis (ED) combined with an activated carbon

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electrode system which is a device for extracting energy from salinity gradients.29 One

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electrode uses an electrode on which the cations are adsorbed by a pre-treatment before

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operation, and there are two flow channels (arbitrarily called channel A and channel B)

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separated by an anion exchange membrane. It is noted that the pre-treatment electrode is

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located in channel A. In the RCDI system, the carbon electrodes selectively

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adsorbed/desorbed cations due to the cation selective resin (Nafion) coating. During constant

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current operation, cations in the channel B solution are adsorbed onto the negative electrode,

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whereas cations adsorbed onto the carbon electrode in channel A are released into the solution,

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and the anions in the channel B solution pass through the anion exchange membrane due to

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the charge neutrality. When a reverse current is applied, the movement of cations and anions

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are reversed. Consequently, the RCDI system enables desalination in both the constant and

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reversed constant current operation with a rapid ion removal rate compared to battery-based

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desalination technologies due to this movement of ions and the fast formation of electrical

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double layers (EDLs) on the surface of the carbon electrode. This study shows the efficiency 5

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of the RCDI system using activated carbon electrodes coated with Nafion by evaluating the

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salt adsorption capacity (SAC), average salt adsorption rate (ASAR), charge efficiency,

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energy consumption, and stability performance which are performance parameters in the CDI

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process.

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Experimental Section

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Preparation and characterization of the Nafion coated activated carbon electrodes

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The activated carbon electrodes were fabricated as follows. Activated carbon (MSP-20X,

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Kansai Coke and Chemicals, Japan), acetylene black (Super P, Timcal, Switzerland) as a

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conducting agent, and poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE, Sigma-Aldrich, USA) as a binder

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were dispersed and mixed in a pure ethanol solvent for 30 min. The resulting slurry was

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rolled using a rolling machine to obtain a sheet type electrode with a thickness of 300 µm and

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dried in a vacuum oven (120 ˚C for 12 h). The fabricated electrode was cut into a square

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shape (dimensions: 2.0 x 2.0 cm; weight: 55.9±0.9 mg) and attached onto graphite sheets

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using carbon paint (DAG-T-502, Ted Pella, USA). Then, 0.2 mL of Nafion solution (Nafion-

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117 solution, Sigma-Aldrich, USA) were coated onto the surface of the activated carbon

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electrode by the dropping casting method. The pristine and Nafion coated activated carbon

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electrodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (FESEM, JEOL JSM 6700 F,

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Japan). The cyclic voltammetry tests were conducted on a battery cycler (WBC S3000, WonA

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tech Co., Korea) in a three-electrode system (Figure S1).

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Cell construction

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Figure 2 shows an illustration of the RCDI module. It consists of two Nafion coated

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activated carbon electrodes, nylon spacers (dimensions: 2.0 x 2.0 cm; thickness: 0.2 µm), and

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an anion exchange membrane (AMV; AGC engineering Co., Japan). A graphite electrode was

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used as a current collector. Before assembling the cell, one Nafion coated activated carbon

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electrode was pretreated. The pre-treated positive electrode was prepared by electrical

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conduction at a constant current (-10.0 A m-2) for 1 h in a three electrode system. As shown in

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Figure 3, the Nafion coated electrode was used as a working electrode, and stainless steel

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mesh was prepared as a counter electrode. The reference electrode was a silver/silver chloride

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(KCl saturated) electrode, and the cell was put into a 100 mM NaCl solution.

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Desalination performance tests

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For the desalination performance tests, the RCDI was operated in the two channel pass

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mode shown in Figure 2. Feed solutions were supplied in the two channels by a peristaltic

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pump with a volumetric flow rate of 2 mL min-1. The pre-treated Nafion coated AC electrode

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was located on the channel A side, and the desalination process was conducted under various

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constant current conditions with a cell voltage range of -1.2 V to +1.2 V or -1.0 V to +1.0 V

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using a battery cycler. The current direction was reversed when the cell voltage reached the

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voltage limitations. The conductivity of the treated solution was measured by a flow-type

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conductivity meter (3573-10C, HORIBA, Japan). The salt adsorption capacity at one cycle

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(SAC) was calculated by equation (1) as follows:

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   = ×   −   



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, where Mw is the molecular weight of NaCl (58.44 mg mmol-1); Me is the total weight of the

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pristine activated carbon electrodes (g); t2-t1 is the operation time of one cycle during the

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constant and reversed constant current operation steps; Ci is the NaCl concentration of the

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initial source solution (mM); Cd is the NaCl concentration of the desalted water (mM), and Q

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is the flow rate (mL min-1).

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The average salt adsorption rate (ASAR) was estimated by equation (2) as follows: 

     = 

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159 160

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(2)

, where t2 – t1 is the cycle time. The charge efficiency at one cycle (Q) was examined by equation (3) as follows:  % =

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162

 



×

# 

#  |"|

× 100

(3)

, where F is the faradaic constant (96485 C mole-1), and I is the applied current (A). The total energy consumption per salt adsorption mass at one cycle (Et) was calculated by equation (4) as follows: 





#  - . /

& '( )*+  =   , ×

# 

(4)

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, where I is the applied current (A); V is the cell voltage during operation (V); Ci is the NaCl

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concentration of the initial source solution (mM); Cd is the NaCl concentration of the desalted

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solution (mM), and Q is the flow rate (mL min-1).

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Results and Discussion

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Figure 4 shows the morphologies of the pristine and Nafion coated activated carbon

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electrodes. As shown in Figure 4 (a) & (b), the activated carbon and acetylene black powder

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covered the surface, and they were bound together with the PTFE polymer. On the other hand,

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they were not observed in Figure 4 (c) because of the Nafion coating layer. From the side-

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view images of the Nafion coated electrode (Figure 4 (d) & (e)), the thickness of the coating

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layer was approximately 1 µm which well covered the top of the carbon electrode. The

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selective transport of cations between the feed solution and the surface of the carbon

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electrode during operations is attributed to the thin cation-exchange polymer layer.30

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Figure 5 shows the effluent conductivity changes of channel A and channel B and the

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voltage-current profiles during the constant current operation with a cell voltage range of -1.2

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V to 1.2 V ((a) & (b)) and -1.0 V to 1.0 V ((c) & (d)) at a current density of ±12.5 A m-2 in the

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RCDI. As seen in Figure 5 (a) & (b), the effluent conductivity changes are stable both for the

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adsorption and desorption steps showing a typical constant current operation in CDI.9

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Additionally, it was confirmed that both channel A and channel B have opposite conductivity

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properties during a cycle indicating that desalted water can be continuously produced. It

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should be noted that the Nafion, which is a cation selective polymer resin, was well coated

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onto the electrode surface at a thickness of approximately 1 µm. This thin layer enables the

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cation selective adsorption onto the surface of the activated carbon electrode without any

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other signification changes in the electrochemical performance shown in the cyclic

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voltammetry curve (Figure S1). Therefore, cations are selectively adsorbed onto the surface

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of the Nafion coated activated carbon. In addition, cations adsorbed onto the electrode by the

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pre-treatment before operations enable the rocking-chair ion movement which means that the

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RCDI can desalt salt water both in the constant and reverse constant current operation.

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The desalination performance of the RCDI was confirmed with a voltage range of -1.2 V to

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1.2 V. The salt adsorption capacity during one cycle was 29.3 ± 0.1 mg g-1. This value is

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higher than that in a similar constant current operation condition for a MCDI result (17.4 mg

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g-1) reported in previous studies.31-32 The charge efficiency, which represents the efficiency of

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the removed ions compared to the total charge amount during operations, is around 90%

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indicating that most of the charge during operations was used for the ion adsorption onto the

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surface of the electrode. The energy consumption of the RCDI cell can be calculated by the

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cell voltage profile at the constant current operation, The energy consumption per removed

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ion during one cycle is 4.8 kT (23.9 kJ mol-1) which is lower than the reported value for

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brackish water desalination with MCDI (10 to 50 kT).9,

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consumption step and a recovery step in the operation of the RCDI. In detail, the constant

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current operation starts with energy recovery until the cell voltage reaches 0 V (∆G < 0) and

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then switches to energy consumption in a cell voltage range from 0 to 1.2 V (∆G > 0). When

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a reverse constant current is applied, the energy is recovered when the cell voltage reaches 0

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V and is consumed when the voltage ranges from 0 V to -1.2 V.

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Note that there is an energy

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Figure 5 (b) shows the cell voltage change over a voltage window of -1.2 V to 1.2 V. As can

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be seen, the slop of the cell voltage profile vividly changes from around -0.8 V indicating that

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a side reaction (e.g., water splitting) occurred after fully releasing the adsorbed cation on the

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surface of the electrodes. This result presents the ion adsorption capacity of the RCDI can be

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limited by the one side of the electrode. Moreover, the amount of adsorbed cations by the pre-

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treatment is one of the limiting factors during operations because it leads to the occurrence of 10

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this side reaction. The effect of the side reaction is also seen in the conductivity curves

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(Figure 5 (a)) with the appearance of peaks at the end of the concentrated solution. One

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solution to avoid this side reaction was to adjust the voltage range. Figure 5 (c) & (d) shows

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the conductivity and voltage curve during the constant current operation with a cell voltage

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range of -1.0 V to 1.0 V because this produces a stable conductivity and linear changes in the

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cell voltage during the cycles. This observation suggests that it is possible to operate the

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RCDI stably and to prevent a side reaction by controlling the cell voltage range.

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Figure 6 (a) & (b) shows the conductivity changes with different current densities and the

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CDI Ragone plot of the RCDI at various salt concentrations under the constant current

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operation. As can be seen in Figure 6 (a), the higher current operation produces an effluent

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with large conductivity changes, and similar conductivity changes are observed for both

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channel A and channel B. These results indicate that the salt concentration of the effluent can

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be controlled by the operating conditions; the salt concentration of the effluent decreases

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when increasing the current and vice versa. To further evaluate the results of the RCDI at

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various operating conditions compared with the results of the conventional MCDI, a CDI

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Ragone plot, which is an analysis tool to evaluate the desalination performance of CDI, is

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shown in Figure 6 (b) that compares the RCDI results with previously reported MCDI results

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from our group.32 Note that the CDI Ragone plot in this study is represented by the salt

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adsorption capacity (SAC) and the average salt adsorption rate (ASAR) which is an essential

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parameter in CDI obtained by dividing the SAC by the duration of the total cycle operation

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time including the ion adsorption and desorption steps proposed by Zhao et al.34 More

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detailed SAC performances at different operation conditions are given in the Supporting

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information (Table S1). The CDI Ragone plot shows that both the SAC and ASAR increased 11

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when the source water concentration was higher. This performance enhancement can be

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explained by the increased capacity of the electrode and the decreased electrolyte resistance

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in the higher influent concentration. The maximum SAC in RCDI observed at the low current

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operation (10.0 A m-2) in the high influent concentration (50 mM) was 44.6 mg g-1 which is

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higher than the mSAC of MCDI (22.8 mg g-1). Moreover, the RCDI has an excellent ASAR

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comparable to that of the conventional MCDI. The cell architecture including one electrode,

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on which the cations are adsorbed by a pre-treatment, enabled continuous desalination during

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both the constant and reverse constant current operation. Hence, this system can achieve a

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higher SAC during the total cycle operation compared with the conventional MCDI which

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has a separate regeneration step. Additionally, the RCDI can be operated under a rapid

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operation condition (±30.0 A m-2 in 50 mM NaCl) with a remarkable SAC (17.5 mg g-1)

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indicating that it is possible to deionize salt water under fast operation conditions compared

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with previous continuous desalination systems using battery materials (constant current

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operation conditions: ±1.4 to ±5.0 A m-2).24,25,27 Consequently, the RCDI architecture enables

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a rapid desalination performance with continuous operation.

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Figure 7 shows the results of the stability tests in the RCDI. To investigate the repeatability

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and the characteristics of the RCDI system, a cycling test (35 cycles) was done at a constant

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current operation with a current density of ± 12.5 A m-2 in 10 mM NaCl solution. From the

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results of the conductivity and voltage data, the SAC and charge efficiency during the cycling

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test are shown in Figure 7 (a). Impressively, the SAC slightly increased with the increase of

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cycles, and it stabilized after 26 cycles. This result can be explained as follows: the charge

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balance between the pre-adsorbed cation and the capacity of the opposite electrode is

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adjusted by repeating the operation. As shown in Figure 7 (b) & (c), linear voltage profiles 12

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and more steady conductivity changes were observed at the end of the test compared with the

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beginning step. Adjusting the charge balance reduces the side reaction and enhances the

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charge efficiency during the operation. From the results of the cycling performance test, the

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RCDI has a promising stable performance in repeated operation. However, it should be noted

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that the source water used in this study was not a real condition, and a membrane fouling

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could be an important issue during operation. Further research is required to investigate the

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fouling effects using a feed solution containing organic/inorganic compounds and the long-

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term stability.

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Conclusion

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In this study, a novel continuous desalination system for CDI was investigated. It is simple

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and easy to operate using a Nafion coated activated carbon electrode. With the cation

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exchange resin coating, the Nafion coated activated carbon can selectively adsorb and desorb

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cations. As a result, continuous operation is possible in the RCDI system with the

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spontaneous diffusion of anions. This system had a high maximum SAC (44.6 mg g-1)

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compared to the conventional CDI system. Additionally, it is possible for the system to

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operate in a rapid current operation (maximum: ± 30.0 A m-2) with excellent cycling stability.

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The RCDI can be easily scaled up by increasing the size of the electrodes; moreover, it is

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possible to reduce the installation expense by replacing the Nafion with an inexpensive cation

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exchange resin. We believe the proposed RCDI in this study can be used in a variety of

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applications such as desalination and water softening as well as an analysis tool in CDI

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technologies.

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Acknowledgement

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This study was supported by the Technology Innovation Program (10082572, Development

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of Low Energy Desalination Water Treatment Engineering Package System for Industrial

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Recycle Water Production) funded By the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE,

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Korea), the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of

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Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2016R1D1A1A02937469), and by

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the Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea, as a “Global Top Project (E617-00211-

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0608-0).

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References (1) Shannon, M. A.; Bohn, P. W.; Elimelech, M.; Georgiadis, J. G.; Mariñas, B. J.; Mayes, A. M. Science and technology for water purification in the coming decades. Nature 2008, 452 (7185), 301-310. (2) Anderson, M. A.; Cudero, A. L.; Palma, J. Capacitive deionization as an electrochemical means of saving energy and delivering clean water. Comparison to present desalination practices: Will it compete? Electrochim. Acta 2010, 55 (12), 3845-3856. (3) Kim, S. J.; Ko, S. H.; Kang, K. H.; Han, J. Direct seawater desalination by ion concentration polarization. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2010, 5 (4), 297-301. (4) Elimelech, M.; Phillip, W. A. The future of seawater desalination: energy, technology, and the environment. Science 2011, 333 (6043), 712-717. (5) Kim, S.; Kim, C.; Lee, J.; Kim, S.; Lee, J.; Kim, J.; Yoon, J. Hybrid Electrochemical Desalination System Combined with an Oxidation Process. ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2018, 6 (2), 1620-1626. (6) Suss, M.; Porada, S.; Sun, X.; Biesheuvel, P.; Yoon, J.; Presser, V. Water desalination via capacitive deionization: what is it and what can we expect from it? Energy Environ. Sci. 2015, 8 (8), 2296-2319.

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(7) Seo, S.-J.; Jeon, H.; Lee, J. K.; Kim, G.-Y.; Park, D.; Nojima, H.; Lee, J.; Moon, S.-H. Investigation on removal of hardness ions by capacitive deionization (CDI) for water softening applications. Water Res. 2010, 44 (7), 2267-2275. (8) Suss, M. E.; Baumann, T. F.; Bourcier, W. L.; Spadaccini, C. M.; Rose, K. A.; Santiago, J. G.; Stadermann, M. Capacitive desalination with flow-through electrodes. Energy Environ. Sci. 2012, 5 (11), 9511-9519. (9) Zhao, R.; Biesheuvel, P.; Van der Wal, A., Energy consumption and constant current operation in membrane capacitive deionization. Energy Environ. Sci. 2012, 5 (11), 9520-9527. (10) Farmer, J. C.; Fix, D. V.; Mack, G. V.; Pekala, R. W.; Poco, J. F. Capacitive deionization of NaCl and NaNO3 solutions with carbon aerogel electrodes. J. Electrochem. Soc. 1996, 143 (1), 159-169. (11) Kim, C.; Lee, J.; Kim, S.; Yoon, J. TiO2 sol–gel spray method for carbon electrode fabrication to enhance desalination efficiency of capacitive deionization. Desalination 2014, 342, 70-74. (12) Yeh, C.-L.; Hsi, H.-C.; Li, K.-C.; Hou, C.-H. Improved performance in capacitive deionization of activated carbon electrodes with a tunable mesopore and micropore ratio. Desalination 2015, 367, 60-68. (13) Fan, C.-S.; Tseng, S.-C.; Li, K.-C.; Hou, C.-H. Electro-removal of arsenic (III) and arsenic (V) from aqueous solutions by capacitive deionization. J. Hazard. Mater. 2016, 312, 208-215. (14) Zhang, C.; He, D.; Ma, J.; Tang, W.; Waite, T. D. Faradaic reactions in capacitive deionization (CDI)-problems and possibilities: A review. Water Res. 2018, 128, 314-330. (15) Porada, S.; Borchardt, L.; Oschatz, M.; Bryjak, M.; Atchison, J.; Keesman, K.; Kaskel, S.; Biesheuvel, P.; Presser, V. Direct prediction of the desalination performance of porous carbon electrodes for capacitive deionization. Energy Environ. Sci. 2013, 6 (12), 3700-3712. (16) Porada, S.; Zhao, R.; Van Der Wal, A.; Presser, V.; Biesheuvel, P. Review on the science and technology of water desalination by capacitive deionization. Prog. Mater. Sci. 2013, 58 (8), 1388-1442. (17) Kim, T.; Yoon, J. Relationship between capacitance of activated carbon composite electrodes measured at a low electrolyte concentration and their desalination performance in capacitive deionization. J. Electroanal. Chem. 2013, 704, 169-174. (18) Gao, X.; Omosebi, A.; Landon, J.; Liu, K. Surface charge enhanced carbon electrodes for stable and efficient capacitive deionization using inverted adsorption– desorption behavior. Energy Environ. Sci. 2015, 8 (3), 897-909. (19) Porada, S.; Sales, B.; Hamelers, H.; Biesheuvel, P. Water desalination with wires. The J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2012, 3 (12), 1613-1618. (20) Jeon, S.-I.; Park, H.-R.; Yeo, J.-G.; Yang, S.; Cho, C. H.; Han, M. H.; Kim, D. K. Desalination via a new membrane capacitive deionization process utilizing flow-electrodes. Energy Environ. Sci. 2013, 6 (5), 1471-1475. (21) Cho, Y.; Lee, K. S.; Yang, S.; Choi, J.; Park, H.-R.; Kim, D. K. A novel threedimensional desalination system utilizing honeycomb-shaped lattice structures for flowelectrode capacitive deionization. Energy Environ. Sci. 2017, 10 (8), 1746-1750. (22) Kim, C.; Lee, J.; Srimuk, P.; Aslan, M.; Presser, V. Concentration- gradient multichannel flow stream membrane capacitive deionization cell for ultra- high desalination capacity of carbon electrodes. ChemSusChem 2017, 10, 4914-4920. 15

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(23) Kim, C.; Srimuk, P.; Lee, J.; Aslan, M.; Presser, V. Semi-continuous capacitive deionization using multi-channel flow stream and ion exchange membranes. Desalination 2018, 425, 104-110. (24) Lee, J.; Kim, S.; Yoon, J. Rocking chair desalination battery based on Prussian Blue electrodes. ACS Omega 2017, 2 (4), 1653-1659. (25) Kim, T.; Gorski, C. A.; Logan, B. E. Low energy desalination using battery electrode deionization. Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 2017, 4 (10), 444-449. (26) Smith, K. C.; Dmello, R. Na-Ion Desalination (NID) Enabled by Na-Blocking Membranes and Symmetric Na-Intercalation: Porous-Electrode Modeling. J. Electrochem. Soc. 2016, 163 (3), A530-A539. (27) Porada, S.; Shrivastava, A.; Bukowska, P.; Biesheuvel, P.; Smith, K. C. Nickel hexacyanoferrate electrodes for continuous cation intercalation desalination of brackish water. Electrochim. Acta 2017, 255, 369-378. (28) Smith, K. C. Theoretical evaluation of electrochemical cell architectures using cation intercalation electrodes for desalination. Electrochim. Acta 2017, 230, 333-341. (29) Vermass, D. A.; Bajracharya, S.; Sales, B. B.; Saakes, M., Hamelers, B.; Nijmeijer, K. Clean energy generation using capacitive electrodes in reverse electrodialysis, Energy Environ. Sci. 2013, 6, 643-651. (30) Kim, Y.-J.; Choi, J.-H. Improvement of desalination efficiency in capacitive deionization using a carbon electrode coated with an in-exchange polymer, Water Res. 2010, 44, 990-996. (31) Kim, S.; Lee, J.; Kim, C.; Yoon, J. Na2FeP2O7 as a novel material for hybrid capacitive deionization. Electrochim. Acta 2016, 203, 265-271. (32) Kim, T.; Yoon, J. CDI ragone plot as a functional tool to evaluate desalination performance in capacitive deionization. RSC Adv. 2015, 5 (2), 1456-1461. (33) Dykstra, J.; Zhao, R.; Biesheuvel, P.; Van der Wal, A. Resistance identification and rational process design in Capacitive Deionization. Water Res. 2016, 88, 358-370. (34) Zhao, R.; Satpradit, O.; Rijnaarts, H.; Biesheuvel, P.; Van der Wal, A. Optimization of salt adsorption rate in membrane capacitive deionization. Water Res. 2013, 47 (5), 19411952.

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Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the rocking chair capacitive deionization (RCDI). The RCDI system consists of a pre-treated Nafion coated activated carbon electrode in channel A, a Nafion coated activated carbon electrode in channel B, and anion exchange membrane. During the constant current operation in the RCDI, the positive compartment solution is concentrated by the released cations from the carbon electrode in channel A and by the anions from the channel B solution driven by diffusion, whereas the channel B solution is diluted. The channel A solution is diluted by the reverse movement of cations and anions during the reverse current operation. 101x57mm (300 x 300 DPI)

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Figure 2. (a) Illustration of the RCDI module for the desalination tests and (b) the RCDI cell. 114x50mm (300 x 300 DPI)

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Figure 3. Schematic of the cell geometry for the pre-treatment electrode (Na ion adsorbed electrode). 76x48mm (300 x 300 DPI)

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Figure 4. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the pristine activated carbon ((a) & (b)) and Nafion coated activated carbon electrodes ((c) ~ (e)). 63x101mm (300 x 300 DPI)

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Figure 5. The effluent conductivity changes of channel A (black solid line) and channel B (blue dash line), and a curve of the voltage & current vs. time during the constant current desalination tests (i = ±12.5 A m2) in a voltage range of -1.2 to 1.2 V ((a) & (b)) and -1.0 to 1.0 V ((c) & (d)). The initial concentration of the NaCl solution was 10 mM. 83x62mm (300 x 300 DPI)

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Figure 6. (a) The conductivity profiles at different current densities (solid line: channel A; dash line: channel B). (b) CDI Ragone plot of the RCDI system with respect to the source water concentration (10, 20, and 50 mM NaCl) under constant current adsorption/desorption operations with a cell voltage range of -1.2 to 1.2 V. The CDI Ragone plot is representative of the salt adsorption capacity (SAC) and average salt adsorption capacity (ASAR). The MCDI data at 10 and 50 mM were constructed from Ref. [32]. 45x78mm (300 x 300 DPI)

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Figure 7. Representative stability performance of the RCDI system. The test was conducted for 35 cycles under constant current adsorption/desorption operations in 10 mM NaCl solution (current: ±12.5 A m-2, voltage range:-1.2 to 1.2 V). (a) The changes in the salt adsorption capacity and charge efficiency during the cycling process. (b) Cell voltage & current vs. time plot. (c) The conductivity changes of the effluent from channel A and channel B. 50x101mm (300 x 300 DPI)

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TOC only   synopsis  The RCDI is a new strategy for a sustainable desalination technology with a continuous and energy efficient brackish water deionization process. 84x47mm (300 x 300 DPI)

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