TY - JOUR
T1 - Redox-Copolymers for Nanofiltration-Enabled Electrodialysis
AU - Kim, Nayeong
AU - Elbert, Johannes
AU - Kim, Choonsoo
AU - Su, Xiao
N1 - We thank the University of Illinois Urbana─Champaign and the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering for the startup funding supporting this work. The authors acknowledge Emily Bolger for her assistance in the experiments and data analysis and also thank Annie Marie Esposito, Qi Hua, and Professor Andrew A. Gewirth for their assistance in RDE measurements. We also acknowledge the Decatur wastewater treatment facility in Illinois for providing the wastewater, Professor Kyle Knust at Millikin University for FTIR data collection, and the School of Chemical Sciences NMR Lab at the University of Illinois.
PY - 2023/5/12
Y1 - 2023/5/12
N2 - Robust, energy-efficient separation technologies for desalination and the removal of organic contaminants are critical in addressing growing concerns about water shortage and water pollution. Here, we propose a generalized strategy for advancing electrodialysis technologies using redox-flow concepts, by implementing a water-soluble redox-copolymer, poly(ferrocenylpropylmethacrylamide-co-[2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]trimethylammonium chloride), P(FPMAm-co-METAC), to eliminate the need for anion-exchange membranes (AEMs) and deploy cheaper and more robust nanofiltration membranes (NFs). The effective membrane retention of the redox material and stable redox activity facilitate the continuous desalination of various source waters, including brackish water, seawater, and wastewater, to produce potable water and remove organic contaminants without membrane fouling or polymer crossover. Leveraging the reversible redox reaction of ferrocene reduces energy consumption by 88% within a single-unit cell compared to conventional ED. In addition, utilizing reusable redox-copolymer and cost-effective NFs promotes economic feasibility, achieving a water production cost of $0.13 m-3. Overall, the combination of redox-copolymer in flow and NFs provides a new avenue to address water contamination caused by organic pollutants and water scarcity in an energy efficient manner.
AB - Robust, energy-efficient separation technologies for desalination and the removal of organic contaminants are critical in addressing growing concerns about water shortage and water pollution. Here, we propose a generalized strategy for advancing electrodialysis technologies using redox-flow concepts, by implementing a water-soluble redox-copolymer, poly(ferrocenylpropylmethacrylamide-co-[2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]trimethylammonium chloride), P(FPMAm-co-METAC), to eliminate the need for anion-exchange membranes (AEMs) and deploy cheaper and more robust nanofiltration membranes (NFs). The effective membrane retention of the redox material and stable redox activity facilitate the continuous desalination of various source waters, including brackish water, seawater, and wastewater, to produce potable water and remove organic contaminants without membrane fouling or polymer crossover. Leveraging the reversible redox reaction of ferrocene reduces energy consumption by 88% within a single-unit cell compared to conventional ED. In addition, utilizing reusable redox-copolymer and cost-effective NFs promotes economic feasibility, achieving a water production cost of $0.13 m-3. Overall, the combination of redox-copolymer in flow and NFs provides a new avenue to address water contamination caused by organic pollutants and water scarcity in an energy efficient manner.
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U2 - 10.1021/acsenergylett.3c00482
DO - 10.1021/acsenergylett.3c00482
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85152209306
SN - 2380-8195
VL - 8
SP - 2097
EP - 2105
JO - ACS Energy Letters
JF - ACS Energy Letters
IS - 5
ER -