Capacitive deionization (CDI) is a promising and rapidly growing technology for water treatment and the electrode materials play a key role in improving CDI performance. In this study, high surface area activated carbon was prepared from chicken feather (CF) bio-waste through pyrolysis and KOH activation; the KOH:CF ratio (R) and activation temperature (Ta) were variable parameters. The material was characterized by using the Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) method, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The lead (Pb2+) removal test was performed with a CDI cell containing the fabricated carbon electrode and 100 mg L−1 Pb(NO3)2 solution; the sample prepared with the ratio R of 1:1 and Ta = 800 °C exhibited higher Pb2+ removal efficiency of 81% and electro sorption capacity of 4.1 mg g−1 at the electrode potential 1.2 V and flow rate 5 mL min−1. Therefore, CF-derived carbon is considered as a promising CDI electrode material for removal of heavy metals from waste water.

In comparison to other conventional methods like adsorption and reverse osmosis (RO), capacitive deionization (CDI) has only been investigated extensively for the removal of inorganic pollutants from water, demonstrating limited practicality. Herein, the study investigated the use of CDI for the removal of paraquat (PQ) herbicide from water by using commercial activated carbon (AC) electrodes. The CDI performance was examined as a function of the initial PQ concentration, applied voltage, flowrate, treatment time, and cycle stability testing in the batch mode approach. The applied voltage had a beneficial effect on the removal efficiency, whereas the removal efficiency of PQ declined as the initial PQ concentration increased. However, the electrosorption capacity gradually increased with the increase of initial feed solutions’ concentration. The maximum removal efficiency and electrosorption capacity achieved at 5 mg/L and 20 mg/L PQ initial concentrations, an applied voltage of 1.2 V, and 5 mL/min flowrate were 100% and 0.33 mg/g and 52.5% and 0.7 mg/g, respectively. Washing the electrodes with distilled water achieved sequential desorption of PQ, and the process produces a waste stream that can be disposed of or treated further. Therefore, the CDI method is considered a promising and efficient method for removing organic pollutants from water including pesticides.

Capacitive deionization (CDI) is among the promising technologies employed for water purification. CDI has been studied for the removal of various ionic species from water including fluoride ion (F−) with promising results. However, there is no comprehensive literature that summarizes the use of CDI for water defluoridation applications. Therefore, this review paper critically analyzes different electrode materials that have been studied for water defluoridation, their electrosorption capacities and F− removal efficiencies. It further discussed the parameters that influence CDI efficiency during defluoridation and point out the issues of F− selectivity when coexisting with other ions in the solution. We can conclude that different electrode materials have shown different abilities in electrosorption of F−. The carbon-based materials possess high surface area and good electrical conductivity which is paramount for ion adsorption but lack selectivity for F− removal. Metal oxides and hydroxides have been reported with improved electrosorption capacity and high selectivity to F− due to the ion exchange between the F− and the hydroxyls surface of the metal oxides/hydroxides. Apart from the good performance of these materials for defluoridation, the discovery of actual practicability use of the electrode materials for defluoridation for commercial scale is still a need.

Capacitive deionization (CDI) is an environmentally friendly water treatment technology with low energy consumption. For a long time, activated carbon has been a preferred electrode material for CDI owing to...