>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Membrane Capacitive Deionisation (MCDI) is a technology used to desalinate water where a potential is applied to an electrode made of carbonaceous materials resulting in ion adsorption. Processes and materials for the production of electrodes to be applied in Membrane Capacitive Deionisation processes were investigated. The optimal electrode composition and synthesis approached was determined through analysis of the salt removal capacity and the rate at which the electrodes absorb and desorb ions. To determine the conductivity of these electrodes, the four point probe method was used. Contact angle measurements were performed to determine the hydrophilic nature of the electrodes. N2 adsorption was done in order to determine the surface area of carbonaceous materials as well as electrodes fabricated in this study. Scanning electron microscopy was utilised to investigate the morphology. Electrodes were produced with a range of research variables; (i) three different methods; slurry infiltration by calendaring, infiltration ink dropwise and spray-coating, (ii) electrodes with two different active material/binder ratios and a constant conductive additive ratio were produced in order to find the optimum, (iii) two different commercially available activated carbon materials were used in this study (YP50F and YP80F), (iv) two different commercially available electrode substrates were utilised (JNT45 and SGDL), (v) different slurry mixing times were investigated showing the importance of mixing, and (vi) samples were treated at three different temperatures to establish the optimal drying conditions. Through optimization of the various parameters, the maximum adsorption capacity of the electrode was incrementally increased by 36 %, from 16 mg·g-1 at the start of the thesis to 25 mg·g-1 at the end of the study.

The effects of system pressure on the performance stability of flow-through capacitive deionization (CDI) cells was investigated. Initial data showed that the highly porous carbon electrodes possessed air/oxygen in the micropores, and the increased system pressure boosts the gases solubility in saline solution and carries them out of the cell in the effluent. Upon applying a potential difference to the electrodes, capacitive-based ion adsorption occurs in competition with faradaic reactions that consume oxygen. Through the addition of backpressure, the rate of degradation decreases, allowing the cell to maintain its salt adsorption capacity (SAC) longer. The removal of oxygen from the pore space of the electrodes makes it no longer immediately accessible to faradaic reactions, thus hindering the rate of reactions and giving the competing ion adsorption an advantage that is progressively seen throughout the life of the cell. A quick calculation shows that the energy penalty to power the pump is fairly insignificant, especially in comparison to the cost of replacing the electrodes in the cell. Thus, operating at elevated pressures is shown to be cost effective for continuous operation through the reduced electrode replenishment costs.