Capacitive Deionization (CDI) for Desalination of Brackish Water IC-IMPACTS 2016 Summer Institute Talk to you about desalination Water shortages are happening in many parts of the world, and even more places are under water stress. One solution that has been proposed is desalination – turning salt water into usable water. An emerging technology – capacitive deionization abbreviated CDI Mike Chung, Adrian Serrano Mora, Macarena Cataldo Hernandez David Wilkinson, Madjid Mohseni Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering The University of British Columbia

Desalination of Brackish Water Fresh Water Brackish Water Salt Water < 500 ppm TDS 500 – 30,000 ppm TDS 30,000 – 50,000 ppm TDS Thermal Distillation Expensive, energy-intensive, and generates lots of waste concentrate! Fresh water and salt water – brackish water Traditional use high temperature and pressure, and have low separation efficiency GEC Co. Ltd. Pure Water Products. (n.d.). http://www.otec.ws/pure_water_products.html. Pentair. Membrane technology for facilitating reverse osmosis. (n.d.). http://xflow.pentair.com/en/technologies/reverse-osmosis.

How does CDI work? Charge + + + + + + + + + + - + + - - - + - + + - + + + + + + + + + + - + + - - - Porous electrodes with pores and high surface area + - + + - - - - - - - - - -

How does CDI work? Discharge + + + + + + + + + - - - - - - - + + - + - + + + + + + + + + - - - - - - - + + - Separate purified water stream and concentrated water stream + - + + + + + + - - - - - - - - -

Developing a working CDI unit Developing a high-performance and cost-effective electrode Developing a working CDI unit We are at beginnings of the project, so no characterization or data yet Nanotechnology plays a role – improve electrode surface area, pore and conductivity properties ?

Impacts One of the highlights of IC-IMPACTS is ability to establish collaborations and partnerships -> 2 project members, 2 PIs from UBC and a PI from Eureka Forbes -> Can pool together knowledge, skills, and other resources to tackle common problems between Canada and India

Thank You!