DesalinationPub Date : 2025-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.desal.2025.119484
D. Clemente , V. Ramos , B. Ferreira , T. Ferradosa , P. Rosa-Santos , F. Taveira-Pinto
{"title":"A comprehensive evaluation of wave energy conversion to power desalination plants: The Portuguese case-study","authors":"D. Clemente , V. Ramos , B. Ferreira , T. Ferradosa , P. Rosa-Santos , F. Taveira-Pinto","doi":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119484","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119484","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The geographical position of Portugal and its wave climate explain the strategic potential for harnessing wave energy. This renewable source can significantly contribute towards achieving the established goals for renewable energies in the national energy mix, as well as drive the development of a “blue” and sustainable economy. In parallel, the increasing frequency and severity of droughts and water scarcity in the country, particularly in the Southern regions, have sparked interest in constructing reverse osmosis desalination plants to address this challenge. As an energy-intensive process, decarbonizing seawater desalination through co-location with wave energy parks appears as a promising solution. This paper provides an exploratory, yet realistic evaluation of scenarios with two wave energy devices for three Portuguese sites with ongoing/upcoming desalination plant projects. Marine space conflicts, park efficiency, survivability and operational restrictions, and economies of scale/learning rate gains were considered to assess energy costs and number of units needed to meet water demands at an annual and seasonal level (Summer). It was found that each site exhibits unique features, opportunities and challenges, from stoppages inherent to the local wave climate to cost metrics. Overall, the CorPower device tended to yield better cost results, with annual levelized values as low as 1.5 €/m<sup>3</sup> (Albufeira and Odemira, in Algarve) and 1.0 €/m<sup>3</sup> (Porto Santo, in Madeira), respectively. Nevertheless, the Summer season proved to be quite challenging, as energy expenditures were several times greater than the annual ones, which reflected upon the total water costs. Also, even with very beneficial economies of scale/learning rates, current costs are not yet competitive with existing references, though future developments may alter this outcome. Nevertheless, this work's findings and data sources can be repurposed for other case studies of co-located seawater desalination with wave energy, given the distinct and encompassing features of each evaluated scenario.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":299,"journal":{"name":"Desalination","volume":"618 ","pages":"Article 119484"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145264325","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DesalinationPub Date : 2025-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.desal.2025.119481
Ruoyu Wang , Jinlong He , Menachem Elimelech
{"title":"Non-equilibrium molecular simulations reveal a pore-flow-dominated transport mechanism in pervaporation membranes","authors":"Ruoyu Wang , Jinlong He , Menachem Elimelech","doi":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119481","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119481","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Pervaporation (PV) is a membrane-based separation process particularly suited for niche applications such as dehydration of organic solvents, separation of azeotropic or heat-sensitive mixtures, and desalination of high-salinity waters. Understanding how solvents permeate through polymer membranes under non-equilibrium conditions is critical for advancing PV technology, yet the underlying transport mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study, we use non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations to investigate single- and mixed-solvent permeation through polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membranes, with a particular focus on whether and how a phase transition occurs within the membrane matrix. Our results reveal spatial gradients in pore size and porosity, non-uniform solvent distribution, and directional solvent transport pathways. Notably, a distinct transition zone is observed where solvent molecules shift from clustered, liquid-like viscous flow to individual, gas-like diffusion. This transition coincides with the internal pressure reaching the saturated vapor pressure of the solvent, indicative of a liquid–vapor phase change. Solvent trajectories and coordination number analyses support a pore–flow transport mechanism involving both pressure–driven viscous flow and gaseous surface diffusion in series. We further analyzed a water-ethanol solvent mixture, revealing that water retains a cluster-to-molecule transition behavior, whereas ethanol, present at low concentration, can exhibit solute-like characteristics. Simulations of crosslinked polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) membranes for PV desalination likewise revealed a liquid-vapor phase transition of water. These findings suggest that solvent transport during PV is better described by a pore–flow model and underscore the importance of incorporating pore structural characteristics—such as pore size distribution, connectivity, and porosity—into transport models. Overall, our work provides new mechanistic insights that could guide the design of PV membranes and improve process predictability under realistic conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":299,"journal":{"name":"Desalination","volume":"618 ","pages":"Article 119481"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145265235","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Development and optimization of Janus nanofiltration membranes for simultaneous removal of divalent cations and anions in water desalination","authors":"Mengdi Chen , Ganwei Zhang , Shusu Shen , Dapeng Liu , Xiaoji Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119464","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119464","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The development of nanofiltration membranes capable of simultaneously rejecting divalent cations and anions is still a major challenge in water desalination, as traditional mono-charged membranes can only effectively reject either cations or anions. In this study, Janus nanofiltration membranes with dual-charged selective layers were prepared for addressing this limitation. For the first time, 3-methylaminopropylamine (MAPA) was introduced as a small-molecule aqueous monomer, while 3-aminobenzenesulfonic acid (m-ABS) an additive, in combination with polyethyleneimine (PEI) and 1,3,5-benzenetricarbonyltrichloride (TMC) via once and twice interfacial polymerization (IP) processes for Janus membranes fabrication. Optimization by response surface methodology yielded membranes with divalent salt rejections exceeding 96 % for MgCl₂ and Na₂SO₄, and water permeability over 6.5 L·m<sup>−2</sup>·h<sup>−1</sup>·bar<sup>−1</sup>. The incorporation of m-ABS improved hydrophilicity and anti-fouling properties. Moreover, the prepared Janus nanofiltration membranes can keep operational stability over 80 h. Compared to conventional approaches, this work provides a new idea for the development of Janus nanofiltration membranes with enhanced separation performance, offering promising potential for efficient seawater and brackish water desalination.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":299,"journal":{"name":"Desalination","volume":"618 ","pages":"Article 119464"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145265236","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DesalinationPub Date : 2025-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.desal.2025.119440
Xiulei Li , Hejie Lu , Zixuan Jin , Zhiqian Jia
{"title":"Mild synthesis of mercapto zeolitic imidazolate frameworks for selective removal of mercury ion from aqueous solution","authors":"Xiulei Li , Hejie Lu , Zixuan Jin , Zhiqian Jia","doi":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119440","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119440","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mercury is a biotoxic water pollutant. Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) are potential adsorbents for heavy metal ion due to their high specific surface area, tunable pore structure and designable surface chemistry. To address challenges such as tedious and high-energy consumption in synthesis processes. In this work, two novel mercapto ZIFs (zinc-2-mercaptobenzimidazole ZIF, Zn-2-SH-Bim; zinc-2-mercaptoimidazole ZIF, Zn-2-SH-Im), were successfully synthesized by a mild solvent-assisted evaporation synthesis strategy. The results show that in the presence of coexisting metals, the adsorption capacity of Zn-2-SH-Bim for Hg<sup>2+</sup> is 12.86 times that of the Zn-2-SH-Im, indicating that the introduction of benzene ring on the ligand significantly increases the adsorption capacity. The maximum adsorption capability of Zn-2-SH-Bim for Hg<sup>2+</sup> is 483.03 mg·g<sup>−1</sup>, consistent with the Langmuir and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The Zn-2-SH-Bim displays a partition coefficient of 190,596 mL·g<sup>−1</sup> for Hg<sup>2+</sup>, Hg<sup>2+</sup>/Ni<sup>2+</sup> separation factor of 23,766, removal rate of 99.17 % and excellent reusability. Experiments and DFT calculations confirm the stability and good coordination of Zn-2-SH-Bim with Hg<sup>2+</sup>, demonstrating excellent performance for eliminating Hg<sup>2+</sup> from wastewater and offers valuable insights into the synthesis of mercapto ZIFs using mild syntheses strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":299,"journal":{"name":"Desalination","volume":"617 ","pages":"Article 119440"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145217790","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DesalinationPub Date : 2025-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.desal.2025.119478
Yanyan Lu , Xuhao Wei , Xu He , Zhongbiao Zhang , Chunli Song , Benfa Chu
{"title":"Synthesis of high-performance anion exchange membranes based on poly(aryl ether nitrile ketone)s bearing piperidinium moieties for cost-effective high-salinity water electrodialysis","authors":"Yanyan Lu , Xuhao Wei , Xu He , Zhongbiao Zhang , Chunli Song , Benfa Chu","doi":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119478","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119478","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The development of a facile approach to fabricate anion exchange membranes (AEMs) with efficient ionic transport and their ideal performance in application environments is of great significance. This study aimed to prepare a novel type of anion exchange membrane for electrodialysis desalination. In this work, we synthesized a series of high-performance AEMs via direct aromatic nucleophilic substitution polycondensation using poly(aryl ether nitrile ketone) backbones functionalized with piperidinium groups. By systematically adjusting the molar ratio of the piperidinium-containing monomer to 4,4′-dihydroxybenzophenone (DODPK), a range of AEMs with tunable compositions were obtained. This approach was designed to optimize the balance between ionic conductivity and mechanical stability, thereby improving the desalination performance of the membranes. The prepared AEMs were integrated into an electrodialysis (ED) system to evaluate their performance in the desalination of a concentration cell. The optimized AEM exhibited a high desalination rate (96.1 %), high current efficiency (>99 %), and low energy consumption (2.27 kwh/kg) within 180 min of operation, and sustained a > 90 % desalination efficiency over five consecutive 180-min ED cycles. Notably, the desalination rate > 90 % with an initial salt concentration of 14.0 g/L, while maintaining low energy consumption (2.55 kwh/kg). The membrane also demonstrated robust anti-fouling performance against organic foulants, retaining high desalination rates (>92.5 %) and low energy consumption with methyl sulfonate (MS) and benzene sulfonate (BS). In contrast, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) led to a noticeable performance decline due to micelle-induced fouling. These findings establish a scalable, cost-effective approach for industrial-scale ED applications, particularly for high-salinity water treatment where energy efficiency is paramount. The membrane's superior performance-to-cost ratio positions it as a promising solution for addressing global water scarcity challenges through advanced desalination technologies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":299,"journal":{"name":"Desalination","volume":"617 ","pages":"Article 119478"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145217816","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DesalinationPub Date : 2025-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.desal.2025.119477
Se Wan Kim , Seung Won Seok , Hee Ju Ko , Na-Rim Kim , Hae Eun Na , Abduljelil W. Sabir , Pyung Soo Lee , Soo-Hwan Jeong
{"title":"Zeolite nanosheet–carbon composite films for high-efficiency and salt-resistant interfacial solar evaporation","authors":"Se Wan Kim , Seung Won Seok , Hee Ju Ko , Na-Rim Kim , Hae Eun Na , Abduljelil W. Sabir , Pyung Soo Lee , Soo-Hwan Jeong","doi":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119477","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119477","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Interfacial solar evaporation is a promising approach for sustainable water purification. However, its large-scale implementation is limited by complex fabrication methods and salt accumulation issues. In this study, a simple, template-free, and scalable strategy is reported for the fabrication of a zeolite nanosheet–carbon (ZNC) composite film via one-step solution coating and pyrolysis. The carbon matrix provided a broadband solar absorption capability, whereas the embedded zeolite nanosheets enhanced the surface roughness, hydrophilicity, and water transport. Critically, the ZNC film also exhibited a passive salt-rejection capability without requiring polymer membranes or external desalting processes. Under 1 sun illumination, the optimized ZNC film achieved a stable water evaporation rate of ~2.0 kg m<sup>−2</sup> h<sup>−1</sup> with a ~91 % solar-to-vapor conversion efficiency. Detailed characterization and control experiments revealed that this performance enhancement arose from multiple synergistic effects, including light trapping due to surface texturing, rapid capillary-driven water replenishment, interfacial water structuring with reduced enthalpic barriers, and efficient heat localization. Long-term operation under saline conditions further demonstrated the robust antifouling behavior and structural stability of the developed system. Overall, this study highlights the potential of zeolite–carbon hybrids for use as practical high-performance evaporators for solar-driven desalination.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":299,"journal":{"name":"Desalination","volume":"618 ","pages":"Article 119477"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145229684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DesalinationPub Date : 2025-09-30DOI: 10.1016/j.desal.2025.119448
Xiaoxuan Dai, Xingyu Ma, Mingxuan Zhang, Shijun Li, Wangzhi Chen, Lei Li
{"title":"Preparation of porous organic polymers via alternating radical copolymerization for uranium adsorption","authors":"Xiaoxuan Dai, Xingyu Ma, Mingxuan Zhang, Shijun Li, Wangzhi Chen, Lei Li","doi":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119448","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119448","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Meriting from the unique affinity of amidoxime groups towards uranium ions, porous organic polymers (POPs) substituted with cyano groups are promising precursors as high-performance uranium adsorbents. However, their synthesis suffers from harsh conditions, tedious operations, or costly catalysts, which hamper their large-scale utilization. Free-radical alternating copolymerization strategy offers a simple and viable approach to circumvent these bottlenecks with great atomic economy. Here, two electron-withdrawing cyano monomers, acrylonitrile (AN) and fumaronitrile (FN), are successfully integrated with the electron-rich divinylbiphenyl (DVBP) monomer <em>via</em> free-radical alternating copolymerization strategy, forming two family of POPs with tailorable cyano contents. After post-amidoximation, two types of amidoxime-functionalized POPs (AO-POPs) are consequently obtained. Having probed the cyano-induced penultimate effect, it is observed that different feed ratios has regulated the polymerization behaviors, porosities and even adsorption capacities of AO-POPs. Among them, AO-POPs-FN-3, with an appropriate specific surface area and the highest amidoxime content, exhibits the best uranium adsorption capacity (723 mg g<sup>−1</sup>), along with good selectivity and regenerability. This work demonstrates an environmentally friendly and easy-to-operate free radical copolymerization strategy for the rational design of POPs-based adsorbents and paving for the recycling and sustainable development of uranium resources.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":299,"journal":{"name":"Desalination","volume":"618 ","pages":"Article 119448"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145229529","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DesalinationPub Date : 2025-09-29DOI: 10.1016/j.desal.2025.119452
Atul A. Pawar, Hern Kim
{"title":"Tunable polypyrrole-coated cellulose aerogel via in situ polymerization for high-performance solar-powered water purification: Effects of porosity, photothermal conversion, and long-term stability","authors":"Atul A. Pawar, Hern Kim","doi":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119452","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119452","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The direct utilization of solar energy to convert contaminated water into clean, potable water presents a sustainable and eco–friendly solution to global water scarcity. However, this process is often limited by low evaporation rates and the use of expensive photothermal materials. In this study, we address these challenges by developing a novel polypyrrole (PPy)–coated cellulose aerogel (WP@PPy) using waste paper (WP) as a low–cost, cellulose–rich precursor. The engineered aerogel exhibits tunable porosity, low density, mechanical flexibility, and strong hydrophilicity, with a PPy coating that significantly enhances light absorption and photothermal conversion. Under standard conditions (2 × 2 aerogel, 50 mL tap water, room temperature, 60 min, and 1 sun illumination), WP@PPy aerogel achieves a high solar–driven evaporation rate with an energy conversion efficiency of 91.53 %, compared to only 47.83 % for uncoated WP aerogel. Moreover, WP@PPy aerogel demonstrates excellent long–term durability, sustaining performance over 28 h of operation across 7 days. Importantly, it effectively removes a wide range of contaminants including dye, heavy metals, oil–water mixture, saline water, and real seawater, highlighting its potential for practical wastewater treatment and desalination. This work provides a promising route for environmentally friendly, multifunctional water purification using readily available materials.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":299,"journal":{"name":"Desalination","volume":"617 ","pages":"Article 119452"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145217814","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DesalinationPub Date : 2025-09-29DOI: 10.1016/j.desal.2025.119423
Hao Guan , Meng Wang , Xiaohong Huang , Yingchao Dong , Jinyun Liu
{"title":"An artificial intelligence framework for separation performance prediction of polymeric pervaporation membranes","authors":"Hao Guan , Meng Wang , Xiaohong Huang , Yingchao Dong , Jinyun Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119423","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119423","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Pervaporation (PV) is an efficient technology for selective separation of challenging water-based mixtures, which is not feasible by conventional methods such as thermal distillation. Despite its promising application potential, the intricate interactions among various operational parameters and membrane structural characteristics complicate the understanding of the separation processes involved in water–organic mixtures. In this work, we introduce a machine learning (ML)-based predictive framework to forecast the separation performance of polymeric pervaporation membranes in water–ethanol systems through systematically optimizing membrane structures and operating conditions. Through utilizing Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) and partial dependence analysis, the crucial factors influencing separation performance were identified and demonstrated, including membrane effective area, swelling degree, and temperature. Notably, a significant enhancement in separation efficiency was observed when the membrane effective area exceeded 50 cm<span><math><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msup></math></span> alongside operational temperature remained between 25 and 40 °C. Our findings demonstrate the dual utility of machine learning in ensuring predictive capability and uncovering the core parameters governing water–ethanol selectivity, establishing fundamental guidelines for rationally designing high-performance pervaporation membranes through parameter optimization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":299,"journal":{"name":"Desalination","volume":"617 ","pages":"Article 119423"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145217791","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DesalinationPub Date : 2025-09-29DOI: 10.1016/j.desal.2025.119453
Liyan Liu , Shaojie You , Wenjun Fu, Jihui Cao, Zhengxin Ding, Chao Xu
{"title":"Pseudocapacitive Fe4N nanoparticles encapsulated within interconnected graphene cavities as efficient binder-free capacitive deionization anodes","authors":"Liyan Liu , Shaojie You , Wenjun Fu, Jihui Cao, Zhengxin Ding, Chao Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119453","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.119453","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Capacitive Deionization (CDI) has emerged as an ideal alternative strategy for energy-efficient brine water treatment. However, as an essential component of the CDI electrode system, anode materials with efficient ability for anion capture have not been adequately addressed. Herein, we have successfully developed a kind of iron nitride (Fe<sub>4</sub>N) material with a unique pseudocapacitive nature into CDI anodes. Specifically, the Fe<sub>4</sub>N nanoparticles are controllably encapsulated within interconnected graphene cavities to form binder-free monolithic electrodes (GF@FeN) through stepwise assembly strategies. The intrinsic electrochemical desalination potential of the Fe<sub>4</sub>N species can be effectively unlocked with the assistance of the graphene porous frameworks. For the typical Cl<sup>−</sup> anions, the optimized GF@FeN anode exhibits competitive dechlorination capabilities of ~140.32 mg·g<sup>−1</sup> (~ 231.23 mg·g<sup>−1</sup> for NaCl) and long-term cycling stability (over 88 % retention rate after 50 cycles). Mechanistic discussions indicate that the excellent Cl<sup>−</sup> capture ability of the Fe<sub>4</sub>N species mainly stems from the reversible redox reactions involving the divalent and trivalent iron (Fe<sup>2+</sup>/Fe<sup>3+</sup>) components on its surface. Furthermore, the GF@FeN electrodes can also effectively capture other representative toxic anions, such as F<sup>−</sup> and CrO<sub>4</sub><sup>2−</sup>, and achieve very high removal rates (~ 99 %) under certain conditions, demonstrating their broad applicability as CDI anodes. This work establishes the feasibility of iron nitride as a promising CDI anode, which not only provides alternative electrode materials for effective anion removal but also opens up vast opportunities for the design of high-performance hybrid CDI electrode systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":299,"journal":{"name":"Desalination","volume":"617 ","pages":"Article 119453"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145217761","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}