Facile constructing ZrO2 nanoparticles equipped with high conductivity carbon networks as pseudocapacitive anodes for removing phosphorus – China

Capacitive deionization (CDI) displays the merits of having eco-friendliness and low energy consumption when capturing phosphorus. However, traditional carbon electrodes often suffer from the limitation that phosphorus uptake sites are insufficient.

Herein, a novel ZrO₂ nanoparticle equipped with a highly conductive carbon network (NZrC) was fabricated by a facile co-pyrolysis process. Na₂EDTA can provide additional carbon backbones, N species, and metal chelation sites. Zr-MOF was applied as the ZrO₂ precursor with abundant phosphorus trapping sites. The results suggested that Na₂EDTA favors improving the ZrO₂ dispersion, mesoporous channel formation, and pseudocapacitive behavior.

NZrC-21 at 1.2 V displays low energy consumption and the optimal phosphorus uptake capacity of 10.99 mg P/g because of its rich mesoporous structure, abundant pyrrolic-N, graphitic-N, and ZrO₂ active sites, and outstanding electrochemical properties.

(Source)