Researchers make headway in desalination technology October 13, 2017 by Lois Yoksoulian

In a previous study, Smith and his co-authors used theoretical modeling to show that technology used in sodium-ion batteries may efficiently desalinate seawater. Their theory states that by using electrodes that contain sodium and chloride ions, salt is drawn out and held in a chamber separate from the purified water.
"In our new study, we constructed and experimented with a batterylike device that uses electrodes made from a different material. That material can remove from brackish water not only sodium ions but also potassium, calcium, magnesium and others," Smith said. "This is important because salt and brackish waters do not contain just sodium chloride. It is often in a mix with other salts like potassium, calcium and manganese chloride."
The new material is a chemical analog to the compound Prussian blue - the intense pigment used in ink for blueprints. It works by taking and holding positively charged ions like sodium within its crystal structure, Smith said.
"The competition between the rate of diffusion of the positively charged ion within the crystal structure and the volume at which the ions can be stored creates a traplike structure," Smith said. "They go in easily but can't get out."

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-10-headway-desalination-technology.html#jCp

October 13, 2017 by Lois Yoksoulian
Researchers make headway in desalination technology
Illinois mechanical science and engineering professor Kyle Smith and his co-authors have shown that a new batterylike water desalination device could help provide fresh water to a variety of regions efficiently and economically. Credit: L. Brian Stauffer

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-10-headway-desalination-technology.html#jCp