Department of Chemical Engineering , University of Illinois at Chicago , 810 S. Clinton Street , Chicago , Illinois 60607 , United States.
Acc Chem Res. 2019 Mar 19;52(3):596-604. doi: 10.1021/acs.accounts.8b00611. Epub 2019 Feb 15.
Growing worldwide population, climate change, and decaying water infrastructure have all contributed to a need for a better water treatment and conveyance model. Distributed water treatment is one possible solution, which relies on the local treatment of water from various sources to a degree dependent on its intended use and, finally, distribution to local consumers. This distributed, fit-for-purpose water treatment strategy requires the development of new modular point-of-use and point-of-entry technologies to bring this idea to fruition. Electrochemical technologies have the potential to contribute to this vision, as they have several advantages over established water treatment technologies. Electrochemical technologies have the ability to simultaneously treat multiple classes of contaminants through the in situ production of chemicals at the electrode surfaces with low power and energy demands, thereby allowing the construction of compact, modular water treatment technologies that require little maintenance and can be easily automated or remotely controlled. In addition, these technologies offer the opportunity for energy recovery through production of fuels at the cathode, which can further reduce their energy footprint. In spite of these advantages, there are several challenges that need to be overcome before widespread adoption of electrochemical water treatment technologies is possible. This Account will focus primarily on destructive electrolytic technologies that allow for removal of water contaminants without the need for residual treatment or management. Most important to the development of destructive electrochemical technologies is a need to fabricate nontoxic, inexpensive, high-surface-area electrodes that have a long operational life and can operate without the production of unwanted toxic byproducts. Overcoming these barriers will decrease the capital costs of water treatment and allow the development of the point-of-use and point-of-entry technologies that are necessary to promote more sustainable water treatment solutions. However, to accomplish this goal, a reprioritization of research is needed. Current research is primarily focused on investigating individual contaminant transformation pathways and mechanisms. While this research is important for understanding these technologies, additional work is needed in developing inexpensive, high-surface-area, stable electrode materials, minimizing toxic byproduct formation, and determining the life cycle and technoeconomic analyses necessary for commercialization. Better understanding of these critical research areas will allow for strategic deployment of electrochemical water treatment technologies to promote a more sustainable future.
全球人口增长、气候变化和不断恶化的水基础设施都导致了对更好的水处理和输送模式的需求。分布式水处理是一种可能的解决方案，它依赖于从各种来源就地处理水，处理程度取决于其预期用途，最后将水分配给当地消费者。这种分布式、因地制宜的水处理策略需要开发新的模块化即用型和即用型入口技术，将这一理念变为现实。电化学技术有可能为这一愿景做出贡献，因为它们相对于成熟的水处理技术具有几个优势。电化学技术具有通过在电极表面原位产生化学物质同时处理多种污染物的能力，同时需要低功率和低能量，从而允许构建需要很少维护并且可以轻松自动化或远程控制的紧凑、模块化水处理技术。此外，这些技术通过在阴极生产燃料提供了能源回收的机会，这可以进一步降低其能源足迹。尽管存在这些优势，但在电化学水处理技术得到广泛采用之前，还需要克服几个挑战。本账户主要关注破坏性电解技术，这些技术允许在无需残留处理或管理的情况下去除水中的污染物。对破坏性电化学技术发展最重要的是需要制造无毒、廉价、高表面积的电极，这些电极具有长的工作寿命并且可以在不产生不需要的有毒副产物的情况下运行。克服这些障碍将降低水处理的资本成本，并允许开发必要的即用型和即用型入口技术，以促进更可持续的水处理解决方案。然而，要实现这一目标，需要重新优先考虑研究。目前的研究主要集中在调查单个污染物转化途径和机制。虽然这项研究对于了解这些技术很重要，但还需要开展更多工作来开发廉价、高表面积、稳定的电极材料，尽量减少有毒副产物的形成，并确定商业化所需的生命周期和技术经济分析。更好地了解这些关键研究领域将有助于战略性部署电化学水处理技术，以促进更可持续的未来。
