Intensifying electrified flow-through water treatment technologies via local environment modification

doi:10.1007/s11783-024-1829-y

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2024, Vol. 18

Issue (6) : 69 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-024-1829-y

Intensifying electrified flow-through water treatment technologies via local environment modification

Zheng-Yang Huo¹, Xiaoxiong Wang^2,³, Xia Huang⁴, Menachem Elimelech⁵(

)

¹. School of Environment and Natural Resources, Institute of Ecological Civilization, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
². Institute for Ocean Engineering, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, China
³. Center of Double Helix, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, China
⁴. State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
⁵. Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8286, USA

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Abstract

● Modifying local environment can intensify the performance of flow-through electrodes.

● Reaction rate and selectivity can be improved by local environment modification.

● Modifications include spatial confinement, enhanced local field, and periodic vortex.

● Near-complete removal of low-concentration emerging contaminants can be realized.

● Electrified flow-through systems are promising for fit-for-purpose water treatment.

Removing high-risk and persistent contaminants from water is challenging, because they typically exist at low concentrations in complex water matrices. Electrified flow-through technologies are viable to overcome the limitations induced by mass transport for efficient contaminant removal. Modifying the local environment of the flow-through electrodes offers opportunities to further improve the reaction kinetics and selectivity for achieving near-complete removal of these contaminants from water. Here, we present state-of-the-art local environment modification approaches that can be incorporated into electrified flow-through technologies to intensify water treatment. We first show methods of nanospace incorporation, local geometry adjustment, and microporous structure optimization that can induce spatial confinement, enhanced local electric field, and microperiodic vortex, respectively, for local environment modification. We then discuss why local environment modification can complement the flow-through electrodes for improving the reaction rate and selectivity. Finally, we outline appropriate scenarios of intensifying electrified flow-through technologies through local environment modification for fit-for-purpose water treatment applications.

Keywords Point-of-use water treatment Electrified membrane Advection-enhanced mass transport Water decontamination and disinfection Emerging contaminants

Corresponding Author(s): Menachem Elimelech

About author:

Li Liu and Yanqing Liu contributed equally to this work.

Issue Date: 18 April 2024

Cite this article:

Zheng-Yang Huo,Xiaoxiong Wang,Xia Huang, et al. Intensifying electrified flow-through water treatment technologies via local environment modification[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2024, 18(6): 69.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-024-1829-y
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2024/V18/I6/69

Fig.1 Schematics of local environment modification for intensifying electrified flow-through water treatment. (a) Electrified flow-through technologies for removing high-risk and persistent contaminants from water. (b) Methods for local environment modification, including nanospace incorporation, local geometry adjustment, and microporous structure optimization. (c) Intensifying electrified flow-through water treatment by local environment modification, including incorporating advective mass transport, sufficient surface area, and pressure-promoted confinement. (d) Application scenarios of electrified flow-through water treatment, including potable water treatment at drinking water treatment plants (DWTP), wastewater reclamation at wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), and point-of-use (POU) applications powered by renewable energy.

Tab.1 Summary of applying electrified flow-through technologies for removing contaminants with low concentrations from water

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