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Nitrogen-rich self-doping modified porous carbon material as a CDI electrode for brine desalination

  • Carbon Letters
  • Abbr : Carbon Lett.
  • 2025, 35(4), pp.1701~1714
  • DOI : 10.1007/s42823-025-00891-w
  • Publisher : Korean Carbon Society
  • Research Area : Natural Science > Natural Science General > Other Natural Sciences General
  • Received : December 9, 2024
  • Accepted : February 28, 2025
  • Published : December 11, 2025

Hui Bin 1 Zhou Houqi 1 Liu An 2 Fei Chi 1 Xu Ting 1 Chen Chunyu 1 Ju Dianchun 2 Ma Han 2 Zhu Zuoqiao 2 Mao Rui 2

1Jiangsu University of Science and Technology
2Institute of Research of Iron &Steel, Sha-Steel/Jiangsu Province, Zhangjiagang

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Capacitive deionization (CDI) represents a novel technology for the desalination and purification of seawater. Selecting the appropriate electrode material is crucial, with carbon electrodes frequently employed owing to their high specific surface area, extensive porous structure, and environmentally sustainable nature. This study presents a nitrogen-doped porous carbon, derived from household waste, which demonstrates outstanding electrochemical and desalination performance. The purified chitosan was mixed with a specific ratio of CaCO3 and carbonized at 800 °C to produce chitosan porous carbon (CPC-T). To verify the role of the templating agent, its performance was compared with chitosan porous carbon (CPC) prepared by direct carbonization. CPC-T possesses more mesoporous structures (31.25%), shortening ion transport pathways and significantly enhancing charge transfer rates. The nitrogen-rich doping (8.65 at%) provides numerous active sites and excellent conductivity, making it highly appropriate for capacitive deionization applications. Compared to CPC prepared without a templating agent, CPC-T has a higher specific capacitance (101.5 F g−1 at a scan rate of 2 mV s−1) and good cycling stability. The CDI cell made from it exhibits a salt adsorption capacity (SAC) of 25.8 mg g−1 for 500 mg L−1 NaCl solution at an applied voltage of 1.4 V, retaining 88% capacity after 50 adsorption–desorption cycles, demonstrating excellent desalination regeneration performance. Additionally, among different concentrations of salt solutions, the CPC-T material shows the best desalination performance for the test solution at a concentration of 500 mg L−1. For different solute ions, the CDI cell with this material as the electrode exhibits excellent desalination performance for Ca2+, with a SAC value of up to 34.02 mg g−1. This is a self-doped porous carbon material that significantly outperforms traditional carbon-based materials.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2024 are currently being built.