Electrochemical Water Ionization for Energy Storage and Water Desalination

Abstract

Industrial effluents and wastes most often are majorly in the form of metal salts which are often dumped into water bodies without further treatments. These effluents not only leads to eutrophication and other pollution hazards but also leads to a significant loss of resources. In this context, their removal from water bodies is of utmost importance for water remediation. Here, we present an electrochemical route for salt splitting to form respective acid-alkaline solution, consequently leading to an electrochemical strategy for water remediation via the generation of value-added products. We design this chemistry in such a way that, the overpotential is dramatically reduced by overcoming the enormous driving force required for the parasitic chemistry leading to almost 100% Faradic efficiency for salt splitting. The acid-alkali generated can act as a source of energy storage and can be used to increase the efficiency of various fuel cells and electrolyzers.