Sharma K, Kim Y-H, Gabitto J, Mayes R T, Yiacoumi S, Bilheux H Z, Walker L M H, Dai S, Tsouris C
Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0373, United States.
Langmuir. 2015 Jan 27;31(3):1038-47. doi: 10.1021/la5043102. Epub 2015 Jan 15.
Desalination of high-salinity solutions has been studied using a novel experimental technique and a theoretical model. Neutron imaging has been employed to visualize lithium ions in mesoporous carbon materials, which are used as electrodes in capacitive deionization (CDI) for water desalination. Experiments were conducted with a flow-through CDI cell designed for neutron imaging and with lithium-6 chloride ((6)LiCl) as the electrolyte. Sequences of neutron images have been obtained at a relatively high concentration of (6)LiCl solution to provide information on the transport of ions within the electrodes. A new model that computes the individual ionic concentration profiles inside mesoporous carbon electrodes has been used to simulate the CDI process. Modifications have also been introduced into the simulation model to calculate results at high electrolyte concentrations. Experimental data and simulation results provide insight into why CDI is not effective for desalination of high ionic-strength solutions. The combination of experimental information, obtained through neutron imaging, with the theoretical model will help in the design of CDI devices, which can improve the process for high ionic-strength solutions.
利用一种新颖的实验技术和理论模型对高盐溶液的脱盐进行了研究。采用中子成像来可视化介孔碳材料中的锂离子，介孔碳材料在用于水脱盐的电容去离子化（CDI）中用作电极。使用专为中子成像设计的流通式CDI池，并以氯化锂-6（(6)LiCl）作为电解质进行实验。在相对高浓度的(6)LiCl溶液中获得了中子图像序列，以提供电极内离子传输的信息。一个计算介孔碳电极内单个离子浓度分布的新模型已被用于模拟CDI过程。还对模拟模型进行了修改，以计算高电解质浓度下的结果。实验数据和模拟结果有助于深入了解为什么CDI对高离子强度溶液的脱盐无效。通过中子成像获得的实验信息与理论模型相结合，将有助于CDI装置的设计，从而改进高离子强度溶液的处理过程。
