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

Highlights

• 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.

Abstract

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.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Carbon nanotube / Super aligned / Conductive membrane / Capacitive deionization / Ultrafiltration / Desalination

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation (Nos. 8192030 and L182026), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2016ZCQ03), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51608038 and 21975140).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-020-1286-1 and is accessible for authorized users.

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