A highly stable full-polymer electrochemical deionization system: dopant engineering & mechanism study

Abstract

Electrochemical deionization (ECDI) has emerged as a promising technology for water treatment, with faradaic ECDI systems garnering significant attention due to their enhanced performance potential. This study focuses on the development of a highly stable and efficient, full-polymer (polypyrrole, PPy) ECDI system based on two key strategies. Firstly, dopant engineering, involving the design of dopants with a high charge/molecular weight (M_W) ratio and structural complexity, facilitating their effective integration into the polymer backbone. This ensures sustained contribution of strong negative charges, enhancing system performance, while the bulky dopant structure promotes stability during extended operation cycles. Secondly, operating the system with well-balanced charges between deionization and concentration processes significantly reduces irreversible reactions on the polymer, thereby mitigating dopant leakage. Implementing these strategies, the PPy(PSS)//PPy(ClO₄) (PSS: polystyrene sulfonate) system achieves a high salt removal capacity (SRC) of 48 mg g⁻¹, an ultra-low energy consumption (EC) of 0.167 kW h kg_NaCl⁻¹, and remarkable stability, with 96% SRC retention after 104 cycles of operation. Additionally, this study provides a detailed degradation mechanism based on pre- and post-cycling analyses, offering valuable insights for the construction of highly stable ECDI systems with superior performance in water treatment applications.