As freshwater shortage has become a global issue, water desalination technique is of great importance to meet the increasing demand for freshwater resources of human beings. Capacitive deionization (CDI) has attracted significant attention in the current desalination technology portfolio. This is because of the use of low-cost electrode materials and the promise of high energy efficiency when including the energy recovery process. CDI, which has its advantage for applying low ionic strength by using various materials, has been explored to improve the system's performance. However, very few have addressed the importance of proper parameter designs, especially the electrodes. In our work, the same activated carbon of different average particle sizes has been studied by applying different desalination parameters (flow rate, holding time, salt concentrations). Our data show that larger particles limit intraparticle ion transportation because of the increased diffusion path length. We also see that a higher packing density, often favored by smaller particles or distribution of particle sizes, is detrimental to interparticle ion transportation. Our work addressed the importance of proper electrode and desalination parameter design for higher desalination performances.

随着淡水短缺已成为全球性问题，海水淡化技术对于满足人类对淡水资源日益增长的需求具有重要意义。电容去离子 (CDI) 在当前的海水淡化技术组合中引起了极大的关注。这是因为使用了低成本的电极材料，并且在包括能量回收过程时有望实现高能效。CDI 具有通过使用各种材料应用低离子强度的优势，已被探索以提高系统的性能。然而，很少有人提到正确参数设计的重要性，尤其是电极。在我们的工作中，通过应用不同的脱盐参数（流速、保持时间、盐浓度）。我们的数据表明，由于扩散路径长度增加，较大的颗粒会限制颗粒内离子的传输。我们还看到，较高的堆积密度通常有利于较小的颗粒或颗粒尺寸分布，但不利于颗粒间离子传输。我们的工作解决了适当的电极和脱盐参数设计对于更高脱盐性能的重要性。