LAUSR

Abstract In this work, effect of ions size is combined with the influence of pore size to provide a quantitative simulation method to evaluate CDI desalination performance. The method is capable of simulating the equilibrium and dynamic behaviours of the CDI. The simulation provides instructive observations that are important to enhance the current state of the art in CDI research and facilitate its implantation into industrial scale. For example, the desalination performance of CDI for high salinity water can be enhanced by using electrodes with small pore size (less than 2 n m ), while electrodes with higher pore size performs better for lower salinity water. From design respective it is therefore recommended to use electrodes with different pore sizes for multi-stage CDI process, as the salinity of water will increase from one stage to another. For electrolyte of a given concentration, the specific desalination capacity increases when the pore size becomes smaller till approach a threshold pore size and then dramatically decreases, particularly this is most severe for high salinity water. Therefore, careful and precise design approach for the electrode pore size is crucial. As ions of smaller volume can accumulate more for the same pore size limit, the analysis inspires us an innovative approach: to enhance the CDI performance through reducing the size of ions by weakening the hydration, which has been achieved by employing the electromagnetic wave in our experiments.