Collaboration
IMDEA, the Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies, has agreed to collaborate with engineering company PROINGESA to design a low-cost capacitive deionisation device based on nanomaterials. IMDEA is a network of publicly and privately funded international research centres promoted by the Madrid Regional Government.
The project, a collaboration between IMDEA Water, IMDEA Energy and PROINGESA, aims to design an energy-efficient technology to desalinate water that is hard or brackish, as well as sea water, using low-cost nanomaterials. The resulting capacitive deionisation device will replace the current desalinisation technologies based on reverse osmosis, a non-membrane and low-pressure process.
Capacitive deionisation relies on the application of an external electrical charge to a pair of electrodes in the feed water, encouraging the migration of dissolved ions towards the electrode of opposite charge, where they are absorbed. When the electrical load of the electrodes is switched off during the regeneration cycle, ions are released and will cause an electrical current if an electrical circuit is connected to the system, a reaction similar to the discharge of a capacitor. The increasing quality of electrodes will allow the development of capacitive deionisation systems that can be applied in real life applications.
The project will be funded by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce with the Strategic Action on Energy and Climate Change of the National Plan of Research, Development and Innovation.
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