ELECTRODE FOR CAPACITIVE DEIONIZATION

The remarkable efficiency obtained is due to the morphology of the electrodes, in which the CNT fibres act simultaneously as a current collector, active material and support for the metal oxide. Such architecture leads to high capacitance while minimizing internal resistance. Large salt adsorption capacity of 6.5mgg−1 from brackish water (2.0gNaClL−1) and very high efficiency of 86%, which translates into a low energy consumption per gram of salt removed (∼0.26Whg−1). This is an 80% improvement compared with reference devices based on activated carbon electrodes and titanium foil current collectors. Simple fabrication process that enables fabrication of large electrode samples. The high conductivity and flexibility in bending of the CNT fibre fabrics opens the possibility to make current collector-free electrodes with complex non-planar shapes.