Facile synthesis of TiO/ZrO nanofibers/nitrogen co-doped activated carbon to enhance the desalination and bacterial inactivation via capacitive deionization.

Capacitive deionization, as a second generation electrosorption technique to obtain water, is one of the most promising water desalination technologies. Yet; in order to achieve high CDI performance, a well-designed structure of the electrode materials is needed, and is in high demand. Here, a novel composite nitrogen-TiO/ZrO nanofibers incorporated activated carbon (NACTZ) is synthesized for the first time with enhanced desalination efficiency as well as disinfection performance towards brackish water. Nitrogen and TiO/ZrO nanofibers are used as the support of activated carbon to improve its low capacitance and hydrophobicity, which had dramatically limited its adequacy during the CDI process. Importantly, the as-fabricated NACTZ nanocomposite demonstrates enhanced electrochemical performance with significant specific capacitance of 691.78 F g, low internal resistance and good cycling stability. In addition, it offers a high capacitive deionization performance of NACTZ yield with electrosorptive capacity of 3.98 mg g, and, good antibacterial effects as well. This work will provide an effective solution for developing highly performance and low-cost design for CDI electrode materials.