Inspired by traditional sodium-ion batteries, researchers at the University of Illinois developed a seawater desalination device similar to a battery, achieving a desalination rate of approximately 80% with minimum energy, and a new and cost-effective seawater desalination technology may be realized in the future. The results report was published in the "Electrochemistry Society".

Desalination technology can meet the increasing demand for fresh water. However, technical barriers to seawater desalination and the large amount of energy required hinder the large-scale implementation of related technologies. The most commonly used reverse osmosis method is to precipitate salt from seawater through a membrane. This method is also costly and requires a lot of energy. In contrast, the new battery method separates salt ions from seawater with only a small amount of electricity.

According to the Physicist Organization Network, Kell Smith and Riland Demireau, professors of mechanical science and engineering at the university, were inspired by sodium-ion batteries. There is a separator in both the positive and negative electrodes of the sodium-ion battery, from which ions can flow. When the battery is discharged, the two elements of salt, sodium and chloride, are attracted to one chamber and the desalted water remains in the other chamber.

Smith said that the salt ions in the conventional battery will diffuse from the positive electrode to the negative electrode, which limits the amount of salt precipitation, so they add a layer of film between the two electrodes, can prevent the salt ions from entering the desalinated water side, keeping it down status. Simulation studies have shown that the efficiency of the device for desalinating seawater can reach 80% without considering other pollutants.

Smith said: “Compared to the reverse osmosis method, the new method battery device can be large or small, can be used in different places, and the traditional desalination plant is large-scale and high-cost. In the new method, the water pump needs to pass a small pressure. It consumes less energy.” In addition, the speed of water flow through the device is more easily adjusted than other seawater desalination technologies that require more complex pipelines.

Smith said that in the future there will be a lot of work to be done on the new materials used for this type of equipment. It is hoped that this study will inspire researchers to discover new desalination methods and materials. (Reporter Hualing)

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