A novel composite electrode with multiple pore structures for efficient treatment of heavy metal ions in capacitive deionization.

Multiple porous carbon materials have great promise and potential in the capacitive deionization (CDI) field. Specific surface area (SSA), pore size distribution, and preparation method of CDI electrode materials are essential for the treatment of heavy metal ions. In this work, PPy composited porous carbon electrodes (hypercrosslinked polymers/polypyrrole, HCPs/PPy) were obtained by one-step crosslinked carbonization preparation and electro-deposition. The diverse pore structure gives the composite electrode a large SSA and excellent adsorption performance. HCPs/PPy-4 gives a high SSA of 251.26 m/g. In the CDI process, the adsorption capacity of HCPs/PPy-4 for Fe, Cu, Pb, and Ag is 20.69 mg/g, 37.81 mg/g, 26.86 mg/g, and 40.95 mg/g. The negative electrode recoveries for the adsorption of the four ions were reached 81.2%, 89.2%, 85.5%, and 100%, respectively. It indicates that HCPs/PPy is a novel and potentially porous carbon electrode for high-performance CDI.