Desalting in wastewater reclamation using capacitive deionization with carbon aerogel electrodes

Capacitive deionization with carbon aerogel electrodes is an efficient and economical new process for removing salt and impurities from water. Carbon aerogel is a material that enables the successful purification of water because of its high surface area, optimum pore size, and low electrical resistivity. The electrodes are maintained at a potential difference of about one volt; ions are removed from the water by the imposed electrostatic field and retained on the electrode surface until the polarity is reversed. The capacitive deionization of water with a stack of carbon aerogel electrodes has been successfully demonstrated. The overall process offers advantages when compared to conventional water-purification methods, requiring neither pumps, membranes, distillation columns, nor thermal heaters. Consequently, the overall process is both robust and energy efficient. The current state of technology development commercialization, and potential applications of this process are reviewed. Particular attention and comparison with alternate technologies will be done for seawater, brackish water, and desalting in wastewater reclamation.