A new tapered flow channel design for electrodes improves the efficiency of battery-based seawater desalination, potentially reducing energy use compared to reverse osmosis. This breakthrough may benefit other electrochemical devices, but manufacturing challenges need to be addressed.
Engineers have developed a solution to eliminate fluid flow “dead zones” in electrodes used for battery-based seawater desalination. This breakthrough involves a physics-driven tapered flow channel design within the electrodes, enabling faster and more efficient fluid movement. This design has the potential to consume less energy compared to conventional reverse osmosis techniques.
Desalination technology has faced significant challenges preventing widespread adoption. The most common method, reverse osmosis, filters salt from water by forcing it through a membrane, which is both energy-intensive and expensive. In contrast, the battery desalination method uses electricity to remove charged salt ions from the water. However, this approach also requires energy to push water through electrodes with tiny, irregular pore spaces, which has been a limiting factor—until now.
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