Hierarchical N-Doped porous 3D network electrode with enhanced capacitive deionization performance

Hydrogen-Bonded Organic Framework Derived 2D N, O Co-Doped Carbon Nanobelt with Tunable Pseudocapacitive Contribution for Efficient Capacitive Deionization

Defect engineering is recognized as an attractive method for modulating the electronic structure and physicochemical characteristics of carbon materials. Exploiting heteroatom-doped porous carbon with copious active sites has attracted great attention for capacitive deionization (CDI). However, traditional methods often rely on the utilization of additional heteroatom sources and strong corrosive activators, suffering from low doping efficiency, insufficient doping level, and potential biotoxicity. Herein, hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (HOFs) are employed as precursors to synthesize N, O co-doped porous carbon via a simple and green reverse defect engineering strategy, achieving controllable heavy doping of heteroatoms. The N, O co-doping triggers significant pseudocapacitive contribution and the surface pore structure supports the formation of the electric double layer. Therefore, when HOF-derived N, O co-doped carbon is used as CDI electrodes, a superior salt adsorption capacity of 32.29 ± 1.42 mg g-1 and an outstanding maximum salt adsorption rate of 10.58 ± 0.46 mg g-1 min-1 at 1.6 V in 500 mg L-1 NaCl solution are achieved, which are comparable to those of state-of-the-art carbonaceous electrodes. This work exemplifies the effectiveness of the reverse nitrogen-heavy doping strategy on improving the carbon structure, shedding light on the further development of rational designed electrode materials for CDI.

Efficient groundwater defluorination over a wide concentration gradient through capacitive deionization with a three-layer structured membrane coating electrode

Fluoride (F-) pollution in groundwater is an important environmental issue and capacitive deionization (CDI) holds promise for defluorination at moderate concentrations (e.g., 200 -1000 mg L-1). However, existing electrodes suffer from the overlap of electrical-double-layer (EDL) and severe co-ion effects at low (e.g., <200 mg L-1) and high sodium fluoride (NaF) concentrations (e.g., >1000 mg L-1), respectively, exhibiting poor salt adsorption capacity (SAC). Hence, a three-layer structured electrode, "membrane/carbon nanotube (CNT)/activated carbon (AC)" (CNT-MCE), was prepared through electrospinning CNT onto AC, followed by a polymer membrane coating. Compared to AC and membrane coated electrode, CNT-MCE with mesopore-dominated structure prevented EDL overlap, achieving a higher SAC of 40.8 mg g-1 at 100 mg L-1 NaF. At 1500 mg L-1 NaF, the positively charged CNT-MCE exhibited an improved SAC of 58.8 mg g-1 by inhibiting co-ion effects. Meanwhile, CNT-MCE consistently demonstrated superb SACs at 200 - 800 mg L-1 NaF and maintained excellent stability over a wide concentration gradient by inhibiting severe oxidation. Notably, CNT-MCE successfully decreased the F- concentration in simulated groundwater from 3.4 to 1.1 mg L-1. Overall, our work provides an efficient strategy of electrode design to broaden the applicability of CDI for groundwater defluorination over a wide concentration gradient.

Controlled fabrication of nitrogen-doped porous carbon foam with refined hierarchical architectures for desalination via capacitive deionization

Porous carbon materials have been regarded as a promising alternative to activated carbon for desalination via capacitive deionization (CDI) due to refined architectures and functionalities. However, it is still challenging to obtain a controlled hierarchical pore structure and considerable nitrogen-doped content by convenient method. Herein, nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon foams (NHCFs) with different microstructural features, nitrogen contents and nitrogen species were successfully fabricated via a stepwise pyrolysis carbonization strategy using easily available melamine foam. Due to the synergistic effect of hierarchical porous structure and doped nitrogen, the optimized NHCF sample carbonized at 800℃ (NHCF-800) exhibited a maximum desalination capacity of 30.1 mg g^-1 at the optimal operating parameters (500 mg/L NaCl solution, 1.2 V) and an excellent regeneration performance after 50 continuous adsorption-desorption cycles. Furthermore, density functional theory (DFT) was also conducted to elaborate the disparity of sodium adsorption energy among the nitrogen species for in-depth understanding, and it mainly benefits from the ascendency of the pyrrolic-N and pyridinic-N over the graphitic-N dopant. This work paves the way of rational regulation of nitrogen-doped process and hierarchical porous structure carbon as CDI electrode materials for desalination.