Ruijuan Zhou

Bio: Ruijuan Zhou is an academic researcher from Ningxia University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Desalination & Capacitive deionization. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 4 publications receiving 16 citations.

Enhanced Desalination Capacity and Stability of Alkylamine-Modified Na0.71CoO2 for Capacitive Deionization

Abstract: Simultaneously regulating the physical properties and chemical environment of interlayer is a critical need for enhancing the capacity and stability of layered electrode materials in energy and env...

More Ca 2+ , Less Na + : Increasethe Desalination Capacity and Performance Stability of Na x Ca y CoO 2

Abstract: Faradaic deionization (FDI) provides an effective solution to respond to the global water crisis. However, the ions intercalation/deintercalation process with multiple redox reactions leads to structural collapse and unstable cyclability. Here, we develop an asymmetrical FDI device assembled by Ca2+-decorated NaxCoO2 (x ≤ 0.71, y ≤ 0.05) as the Faradaic negative electrode and activated carbon as the positive electrode. Na0.27Ca0.03CoO2·0.6H2O was synthesized via a facile sol–gel and chemical oxidation method, which delivered a desalination capacity of 83.5 ± 2.4 mg g–1 and a charge efficiency close to 1, and an inappreciable capacity fading was observed after 50 cycles. It is found that the presence of Ca2+ residing in the face-sharing sites helps to maintain the layered structure and promotes efficient deintercalation of Na+ by anchoring the CoO2 slabs, which results in its unexpected desalination capacity and good cyclability. Moreover, electrochemical quartz-crystal microbalance (EQCM) was successfully...

Long-term electrocatalytic N2 fixation by MOF-derived Y-stabilized ZrO2: insight into the deactivation mechanism

Abstract: Industrially, NH3 synthesis is largely dependent on the Haber–Bosch method which consumes a lot of energy and emits huge amounts of CO2. Recently, the electrochemical N2 reduction reaction (NRR) has been recognized as a promising method to achieve clean and sustainable NH3 production, thus highly efficient and durable catalysts are urgently desired. In this paper, we report a MOF-derived carbon/Y-stabilized ZrO2 nanocomposite (C@YSZ) that works as an efficient electrocatalyst for NRR in 0.1 M Na2SO4. It achieves a large NH3 production of 24.6 μg h−1 mgcat.−1 and a high faradaic efficiency of 8.2% at −0.5 V vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode. The experimental results demonstrate that the surface oxygen vacancies are the main catalytic sites for NRR. Introducing Y3+ into the ZrO2 lattice has a significant effect to increase and stabilize the O-vacancies. Meanwhile, this catalyst displays remarkable stability and durability for NRR, showing negligible change after 7 days reaction, which is better than most reported NRR electrocatalysts. Moreover, an in situ electrochemical quartz-crystal microbalance (EQCM) was applied in the NRR field for the first time and was successfully combined with density functional theory (DFT) calculations to reveal the deactivation mechanism.

Recent Advances in Desalination Battery: An Initial Review

Abstract: Desalination is one of the most effective strategies to solve the problem of freshwater shortage, which is one of the most critical challenges facing global development. Recently, the desalination battery has become an emerging desalination technology thanks to its high salt-removal capacity enabled by the high capacity of battery electrodes and low energy consumption mainly rooted from the high energy recovery during the discharge process. To promote the development of the desalination battery, we must understand the recent advances and the remaining issues in the field. Herein, we comprehensively review the development of the concept and the electrode materials for a desalination battery, summarize the performance of a full desalination battery, and propose perspectives and guidelines.

A Brief Review on High-Performance Capacitive Deionization Enabled by Intercalation Electrodes.

Abstract: Owing to the advantages of cost-effectiveness, environmental-friendliness and high desalination capacity, capacitive deionization (CDI) has emerged as an advanced desalination technique. Recently, the ions intercalation materials inspired by sodium ion batteries have been widely implemented in CDI due to their exceptional salt removal capacity. They are able to extract sodium ions from the brine through intercalation or redox reactions, instead of electrostatic forces associated with the carbonaceous electrode. As a result, the ions intercalation materials have caught the attention of the CDI research community. In this article, the recent progress in various sodium ion intercalation materials as highly-efficient CDI electrodes is summarized and reviewed. Further, an outlook on the future development of ion intercalation electrodes is proposed.

Tungsten disulfide-reduced GO/CNT aerogel: a tuned interlayer spacing anode for efficient water desalination

Abstract: Owing to the favorable energy efficiency and environmental compatibility, capacitive deionization (CDI) has been greatly developed as a potential technology to overcome the ever-growing global water shortage. Herein, an effective and simple strategy is reported to boost the desalination performance by 30 percent through an expansion of interlayer spacing. The final redox active hybrid CDI material consists of WS2 nanoflowers embedded in a highly conductive free-standing rGO-CNT (WS2/rGO-CNT) aerogel as an anode and rGO-CNT aerogel as a cathode. WS2 is applied as a redox-active material for sodium ion intercalation, and three-dimensional (3D) rGO-CNT facilitates the diffusion of the ions to boost the reaction kinetics. Upon charging/discharging, sodium ions intercalate/deintercalate into/from the WS2 lattice structure which is confirmed via in situ XRD measurements, and chloride ions are physically adsorbed/desorbed by the rGO-CNT aerogel. Benefiting from the synergistic effect between the highly conductive and porous rGO-CNT framework and WS2 nanoflowers with a tuned structure, the as-assembled HCDI device enables stable desalination performance with a superior removal capacity of 80 mg g−1, and an excellent removal rate of 3.9 mg g−1 min−1.

Recent progress in materials and architectures for capacitive deionization: A comprehensive review

Abstract: Capacitive deionization is an emerging and rapidly developing electrochemical technique for water desalination across the globe with exponential growth in publications. There are various architectures and materials being explored to obtain utmost electrosorption performance. The symmetric architectures consist of the same material on both electrodes, while asymmetric architectures have electrodes loaded with different materials. Asymmetric architectures possess higher electrosorption performance as compared with that of symmetric architectures owing to the inclusion of either faradaic materials, redox‐active electrolytes, or ion specific pre‐intercalation material. With the materials perspective, faradaic materials have higher electrosorption performance than carbon‐based materials owing to the occurrence of faradaic reactions for electrosorption. Moreover, the architecture and material may be tailored in order to obtain desired selectivity of the target component and heavy metal present in feed water. In this review, we describe recent developments in architectures and materials for capacitive deionization and summarize the characteristics and salt removal performances. Further, we discuss recently reported architectures and materials for the removal of heavy metals and radioactive materials. The factors that affect the electrosorption performance including the synthesis procedure for electrode materials, incorporation of additives, operational modes, and organic foulants are further illustrated. This review concludes with several perspectives to provide directions for further development in the subject of capacitive deionization.