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    Dual-Use of Seawater Batteries for Energy Storage and Water Desalination
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2022) Arnold, Stefanie; Wang, Lei; Presser, Volker
    Seawater batteries are unique energy storage systems for sustainable renewable energy storage by directly utilizing seawater as a source for converting electrical energy and chemical energy. This technology is a sustainable and cost-effective alternative to lithium-ion batteries, benefitting from seawater-abundant sodium as the charge-transfer ions. Research has significantly improved and revised the performance of this type of battery over the last few years. However, fundamental limitations of the technology remain to be overcome in future studies to make this method even more viable. Disadvantages include degradation of the anode materials or limited membrane stability in aqueous saltwater resulting in low electrochemical performance and low Coulombic efficiency. The use of seawater batteries exceeds the application for energy storage. The electrochemical immobilization of ions intrinsic to the operation of seawater batteries is also an effective mechanism for direct seawater desalination. The high charge/discharge efficiency and energy recovery make seawater batteries an attractive water remediation technology. Here, the seawater battery components and the parameters used to evaluate their energy storage and water desalination performances are reviewed. Approaches to overcoming stability issues and low voltage efficiency are also introduced. Finally, an overview of potential applications, particularly in desalination technology, is provided.
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    Electrocatalytic fuel cell desalination for continuous energy and freshwater generation
    (Maryland Heights, MO : Cell Press, 2021) Zhang, Yuan; Wang, Lei; Presser, Volker
    Advanced hydrogen technologies contribute essentially to the decarbonization of our industrialized world. Large-scale hydrogen production would benefit from using the abundantly available water reservoir of our planet’s oceans. Current seawater-desalination technologies suffer from high energy consumption, high cost, or low performance. Here, we report technology for water desalination at seawater molarity, based on a polymer ion-exchange membrane fuel cell. By continuously supplying hydrogen and oxygen to the cell, a 160-mM concentration decrease from an initial value of 600 mM is accomplished within 40 h for a 55-mL reservoir. This device’s desalination rate in 600 mM NaCl and substitute ocean water are 18 g/m2/h and 16 g/m2/h, respectively. In addition, by removing 1 g of NaCl, 67 mWh of electric energy is generated. This proof-of-concept work shows the high application potential for sustainable fuel-cell desalination (FCD) using hydrogen as an energy carrier.