High-Performance Ti/IrO2–RhOx–Ta2O5 Electrodes for Polarity Reversal Applications

Scaling-Free Cathodes: Enabling Electrochemical Extraction of High-Purity Nano-CaCO3 and -Mg(OH)2 in Seawater

For electrochemical application in seawater or brine, continuous scaling on cathodes will form insulation layers, making it nearly impossible to run an electrochemical reaction continuously. Herein, we report our discovery that a cathode consisting of conical nanobundle arrays with hydrophobic surfaces exhibits a unique scaling-free function. The hydrophobic surfaces will be covered with microbubbles created by electrolytic water splitting, which limits scale crystals from standing only on nanotips of conical nanobundles, and the bursting of large bubbles formed by the accumulation of microbubbles will cause a violent disturbance, removing scale crystals automatically from nanotips. Benefiting from the scaling-free properties of the cathode, high-purity nano-CaCO3 (98.9%) and nano-Mg(OH)2 (99.5%) were extracted from seawater. This novel scaling-free cathode is expected to eliminate the inherent limitations of electrochemical technology and open up a new route to seawater mining.

Spatial and temporal regulation of homogeneous nucleation and crystal growth for high-flux electrochemical water softening

Electrochemical softening is an effective technology for the treatment of circulating cooling water, but its hardness removal efficiency is limited because that nucleation and growth of scale crystals depended on cathode surface. In this study, a novel method was proposed to break through this limit via spatiotemporal management of nucleation and growth processes. A cube reactor was divided into cathodic chamber and anodic chamber via installing a sandwich structure module composed of mesh cathode, nylon nets, and mesh anode. Using this continuous-flowing electrochemical reactor, OH ̄ generated by water electrolysis was rapidly pushed away from cathode surface by water flow and hydrogen bubbles movement. As a result, a wide range of strongly alkaline regions was rapidly constructed in cathodic chamber to play a nucleation region, and homogeneous nucleation in liquid phase replaced heterogeneous nucleation on cathodic surface. Furthermore, the growth process of scale crystals in alkaline regions was monitored in situ. It took only 150 s of residence time to grow to 500 nm, which may be easily separated from water by a microfiltration membrane. With this new method, the precipitation rate was 290.8 g/(hˑm²) and corresponding energy consumption was 2.1 kW·h/kg CaCO₃, both were superior to those reported values. Therefore, this study developed an efficient electrochemical softening method by spatial and temporal regulation of homogeneous nucleation and crystal growth processes.