A capacitive deionization process utilizing flow-electrodes (FCDI) was designed and evaluated for use in seawater desalination. The FCDI cell exhibited excellent removal efficiency (95%) with respect to an aqueous NaCl solution (salt concentration: 32.1 g L⁻¹), demonstrating that the FCDI process could effectively overcome the limitations of typical CDI processes.

The ion storage and extraction (or the ion charge and discharge) of a continuous capacitive deionization system were investigated using novel flow-electrode capacitive deionization (FCDI). The flow-electrode, charged by constant voltage, generated about 20% of the supplied energy in an FCDI cell during constant current discharge with NaCl solution (concentration: 35.0 g L⁻¹).

A highly compact and scalable three-dimensional desalination cell was realized by utilizing honeycomb-shaped porous lattice scaffolds.

We fabricated surface modified activated carbons covered with ion-selective polymer. These materials can be used as powerful dispersants and flow electrodes, and improved desalting efficiency by high carbon loading via electrostatic repulsion.