KR101526246B1 - Composite Electrode For Water Treatment And Method For Manufacturing The Same And Water Treatment System - Google Patents

Abstract

 There is disclosed a composite electrode for water treatment in which the characteristics and surface characteristics of an electrochemical carbon electrode are modified. The zeolite composite electrode includes a carbon electrode including 65 to 88 wt% of active material, 10 to 25 wt% of a conductive material containing carbon and 2 to 10 wt% of a binder, and a metal oxide thin film coated on the surface of the carbon electrode . The water treatment apparatus to which the composite electrode having the above-described configuration is applied can form a highly efficient water treatment system in which ion removal efficiency is increased without changing the electrochemical characteristics.

Description

Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to a composite electrode for water treatment, a method for manufacturing the same,

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a water treatment apparatus comprising a composite electrode for water treatment, a method for producing the composite electrode, and a composite electrode for water treatment, and more particularly to a water treatment composite electrode having a surface modified with a metal oxide thin film, And a water treatment apparatus including the same.

Globally, the value of water resources is increasing due to the deepening of drought phenomenon caused by global warming, the depletion of groundwater, the progress of desertification, population increase, industrialization, and the increase in industrial water usage. Therefore, desalination of seawater, recycling of living and industrial wastewater Etc. are emerging as new issues. In addition, as interest in the production of ultra pure water for industrial use increases, the demand for clean water that can be eaten and washed increases in living, and research on the development of high efficiency ion removing apparatus is actively carried out.

In addition, when hard water is used as industrial water and domestic water, detergent is not solved easily, and the formation of scales by cations (Ca ²⁺ , Mg ^2+, etc.) causes industrial and hygienic problems. Therefore, in order to reduce the damage caused by the use of hard water, softening process is indispensable. In addition, removal of radioactive Cs ⁺ ions present in the water and recovery of Li ⁺ ions are recognized as important in environment and industrial sale

At present, technologies for removing ionic materials mainly use evaporation method, reverse osmosis membrane method and ion exchange resin method. Evaporation method and reverse osmosis method have operation cost and operation problem due to high energy consumption, and most widely used ion The exchange resin method has a disadvantage of producing secondary pollutants because it uses excess acid or salt (NaCl) during regeneration.

In order to overcome the disadvantages of existing ion-ion removal technologies and to develop a new ion-depletion technology with low energy consumption, researches are underway in various countries around the world. Such new concept ion depleting technologies are being developed in LLNL, Sabrex of Texas And capacitive deionization (CDI) technology.

CDI technology is a new environmentally friendly ion removal technology that does not require secondary cleaning because it requires less energy consumption compared to other methods and does not require cleaning by chemicals unlike conventional ion removal technology. It is easy to use and it is actively researched by next generation dissolved ion removal technology.

In the first CDI process, researchers at the University of Oklahoma in the US in the 1960s studied seawater desalination using porous activated carbon electrodes, and Johnson et al. Conducted CDI experiments using activated carbon. However, the development of the CDI process using carbon airgel electrodes in the mid-1990s at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in the United States was carried out. Research has also been conducted on the development of a CDI process using active carbon fibers and carbon nanotubes as an electrode active material.

Korean Patent Application No. 2010-0119911 discloses a carbon composite material in which an electrode active material is laminated on a carbon body supporting the electrode, thereby increasing the adsorption capacity of the electrode, And the like. It is somewhat unreasonable to improve the desalination performance of CDI because the wettability of the surface of the carbon composite material is relatively poor due to the relatively poor accessibility of ions during the water treatment process.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems and it is an object of the present invention to improve the wettability of the electrode during the water treatment process by improving the surface of the electrode due to the formation of the metal oxide thin film, And an object of the present invention is to provide a carbon composite electrode for water treatment having enhanced desalting performance.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for producing a carbon composite electrode for water treatment, wherein the surface is modified due to the formation of a metal oxide thin film, thereby improving the accessibility of ions to the electrode surface during the water treatment process and improving the desalination performance of CDI.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a water treatment apparatus to which a surface-modified composite electrode for water treatment is applied due to the formation of a metal oxide thin film.

In order to accomplish the object of the present invention, there is provided a composite electrode for water treatment according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is an electrode for water treatment applied to remove cations in a water treatment process, and includes an active material, a conductive material containing carbon, A carbon electrode; And a metal oxide thin film coated on the surface of the carbon electrode.

In order to accomplish another object of the present invention, there is provided a process for producing a zeolite composite electrode for water treatment according to one embodiment, comprising 65 to 85 parts by weight of an active material, 10 to 25 parts by weight of a conductive material, 2 to 10 parts by weight of a binder, Preparing a paste for forming a zeolite composite electrode mixed with 3 to 10 parts by weight of the paste; Molding the paste for forming a zeolite composite electrode so as to have an electrode shape; And drying the formed paste for forming a zeolite composite electrode.

In one embodiment, the electrode may comprise from 65 to 88 weight percent of zeolite particles, from 10 to 25 weight percent of a conductive material, and from 2 to 10 weight percent of a binder.

In the composite electrode for water treatment and the method of manufacturing the same according to an embodiment, the active material may include graphite, carbon nanotubes, carbon fibers, carbon powder, carbon black, a mixture of carbon and metal, and a compound of carbon and metal .

In one embodiment, the binder may include polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and polyvinyl fluoride (PVF).

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a water treatment apparatus comprising: a zeolite composite electrode having a composition including zeolite particles, a conductive material containing carbon, and a binder for binding the zeolite particles to a conductive material; A counter electrode facing the zeolite composite electrode, and a power supply unit for applying power to the composite electrode and the counter electrode.

In a water treatment apparatus according to an embodiment, the composite electrode may include 65 to 88 wt% of zeolite particles, 10 to 25 wt% of a conductive material, and 2 to 10 wt% of a binder.

The water treatment apparatus according to one embodiment may further include a separation membrane disposed between the zeolite composite electrode and the counter electrode.

In the water treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, a zeolite composite electrode may be used as the counter electrode, and a carbon electrode including carbon or a metal electrode including a metal may be applied as the counter electrode.

In the case of the water treatment composite electrode of the present invention, the electrochemical desalination process can be stably performed because the metal oxide thin film is formed on the surface of the carbon electrode. In addition, since the surface of the metal oxide thin film is modified to maximize the wettability of the electrode during the water treatment process, the ion accessibility to the electrode surface can be improved to improve the desalination performance of CDI.

1 is a schematic view schematically showing a composite electrode for water treatment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a process flow diagram illustrating a method of manufacturing a composite electrode for water treatment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a view schematically showing a water treatment apparatus to which a water treatment composite electrode according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.
4A is a SEM photograph showing the surface of a water treatment composite electrode manufactured according to Example 1 of the present invention.
4B is an SEM photograph showing the surface of the water treatment carbon electrode prepared according to Comparative Example 1 of the present invention.
4C is a SEM photograph showing a cross section of the water treatment composite electrode prepared according to Example 1 of the present invention.
4D is a SEM photograph showing a cross section of the water treatment carbon electrode prepared according to Comparative Example 1 of the present invention.
5 is a graph showing cyclic voltage currents of the composite electrode for water treatment of the present invention and the carbon electrode of the comparative example.
6 is a graph showing the electrical conductivity of the composite electrode for water treatment of the present invention and the carbon electrode of the comparative example.
7 is a graph showing ion removal amounts of the composite electrode for water treatment of the present invention and the carbon electrode of the comparative example.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is capable of various modifications and various forms, and specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the text. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. Like reference numerals are used for like elements in describing each drawing. In the accompanying drawings, the dimensions of the structures are enlarged to illustrate the invention, and are actually shown in a smaller scale than the actual dimensions in order to explain the schematic configuration. The terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as a first component.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprises", "having", and the like are used to specify that a feature, a number, a step, an operation, an element, a part or a combination thereof is described in the specification, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

On the other hand, unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries are to be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the contextual meaning of the related art and are to be interpreted as either ideal or overly formal in the sense of the present application Do not.

Composite electrode for water treatment and manufacturing method thereof

1 is a schematic view schematically showing a composite electrode for water treatment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the water treatment composite electrode 100 according to the present embodiment includes a metal oxide (inorganic) thin film having excellent characteristics of an electrochemical carbon electrode and wetting property on water on the surface of the carbon electrode 120 150) formed thereon.

In order to modify the surface characteristics of the carbon electrode 120 formed on the active material, the conductive material containing carbon, and the binder, the water-treatment composite electrode 100 of the present embodiment has a thin metal Oxide thin film 150 may be formed.

Examples of the active material applied to form the carbon electrode included in the composite electrode for water treatment 100 include graphite, carbon nanotube, carbon fiber, carbon powder, carbon black, a mixture of carbon and metal, And the like. These may be used singly or in a mixture of two or more.

When the content of the active material contained in the carbon electrode is 65 wt% or less, the amount of the active material is insufficient during the water treatment process using the water treatment composite electrode 100, When the content of the active material contained in the carbon electrode exceeds 88 wt%, that is, the resistance of the electrode decreases due to the decrease of the conductivity of the conductive material and the decrease of the conductivity of the electrode. Accordingly, the carbon electrode preferably contains 65 to 88 wt%, more preferably 67 to 81 wt% of the active material.

The conductive material used to form the carbon electrode included in the composite water treatment composite electrode 100 is a material that imparts the function of the carbon electrode and the electric field generation function to the composite electrode. As examples of the conductive material containing carbon, nano-sized carbon particles may be used. As an example, nano carbon fiber, natto carbon powder and the like are used, and they can be used singly or in a mixture of two or more.

When the content of the conductive material containing carbon in the carbon electrode is less than 10 wt%, the resistance of the electrode is increased due to a decrease in the conductivity of the electrode due to a shortage of the conductive material during the water treatment process using the water- If the content of the conductive material containing carbon is more than 25% by weight, the amount of the active material may be insufficient during the water treatment process, resulting in a decrease in the electrostatic capacity and a deterioration of the desalination performance. Accordingly, in the carbon electrode, the conductive material containing carbon preferably includes 10 to 25 wt%, more preferably 12 to 18 wt%.

The binder used for the carbon electrode is used as a binder for firmly bonding or attaching the active material constituting the composite electrode and the conductive material containing carbon. Examples of the binder include fluorine resins such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyfluorinated vinylidene (PVDF), and polyfluorinated vinyl (PVF). These may be used singly or in a mixture of two or more.

When the content of the binder in the carbon electrode is 2 wt% or less, the bonding between the active material and the conductive material constituting the water treatment composite electrode is weakened. When the content of the binder is more than 10% by weight, the electric conductivity of the composite electrode is lowered due to an increase in the content of the binder having a nonconductive property in the composite electrode. Accordingly, the amount of the binder in the carbon electrode is preferably 2 to 10 wt%, more preferably 4 to 8 wt%.

 The metal oxide thin film 150 is formed on the surface of the carbon electrode by a sol-gel spray deposition process. Specifically, the metal oxide thin film of the present embodiment is formed by dissolving a metal oxide precursor in an alcohol solvent to form a sol-gel state, and coating the surface of the carbon electrode once or several times through a sol-gel spray deposition method. The metal oxide thin film is formed to have a uniform thickness of about 20 to 150 mu m on the entire surface of the carbon electrode, preferably about 40 to 100 mu m.

As an example, in the development of a composite electrode for a high efficiency electrochemical desalination process, a technique of adding an inorganic material and an ion exchange resin is typical. The development of composite electrodes through the addition of inorganic materials is proceeding in a direction to improve the accessibility of ions by utilizing the high hydrophilic properties of inorganic materials. In this case, the inorganic material exposed on the surface of the electrode increases the hydrophilicity of the surface of the electrode and improves the contact of the water molecule and the ion to the electrode, thereby improving desalination performance in terms of speed.

However, the addition of an inorganic substance reduces the maximum desalination performance of the electrode because the amount of the active material (ex. Activated carbon) is decreased. Therefore, in the present invention, when a metal oxide is coated on the surface of an electrode without using an ion exchange resin having a high price, concentration polarization of ions can be maximized on the surface of the electrode, thereby improving the accessibility of the ions and improving the electrochemical characteristics It has an effect of having a high desalination performance without change. That is, the metal oxide thin film formed by the sol-gel method can improve ion accessibility without affecting the electrochemical performance of the carbon electrode, thereby achieving a highly efficient desalination process.

For example, the metal oxide thin film may be formed by coating a metal oxide such as an aluminum oxide, a magnesium oxide, a titanium oxide, a silicon oxide, or the like. In this embodiment, the metal oxide thin film is preferably formed using a metal precursor having no toxicity.

2 is a process flow diagram illustrating a method of manufacturing a composite electrode for water treatment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2, a paste for forming a carbon electrode having an active material, a conductive material containing carbon, a binder, and an alcoholic solvent dispersed and mixed uniformly is prepared (S110).

In step S110, the carbon electrode forming paste is mixed with 65 to 85 parts by weight of the active material and 10 to 25 parts by weight of the conductive material and dispersed so as to have a single phase state. Then, 2 to 10 parts by weight of the binder and 3 to 10 parts by weight of the alcoholic solvent And then mixing the components.

For example, the active material may be one selected from the group consisting of graphite, carbon nanotubes, carbon fiber, carbon powder, carbon black, a mixture of carbon and metal, and a mixture of carbon and metal, Carbon particles are used. As the binder, any one selected from the group consisting of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyfluorinated vinylidene (PVDF), and polyfluorinated vinyl (PVF) is used.

At this time, since the alcoholic solvent is volatile and does not affect the weight of the mixture, only the mixing ratio between the zeolite particles, the conductive material and the binder (adhesive) is considered. As the alcoholic solvent, it is preferable to use ethanol which can dissolve the binder.

Subsequently, the zeolite carbon electrode-forming paste is shaped to have an electrode shape (S120)

In step S120, the electrode may be formed by providing the paste to a molding or molding plate having the size and thickness of the carbon electrode to be completed, or processing the paste into a thin plate shape.

Subsequently, the molded carbon electrode-forming paste is dried and pressed to form a carbon electrode for water treatment (S 130)

Subsequently, a metal oxide thin film is formed on the surface of the carbon electrode to complete a water treatment composite electrode (S140)

In step S140, the metal oxide thin film is formed by performing a sol-gel spray deposition process on the surface of the carbon electrode, which is a precursor for forming a metal oxide dissolved in an alcohol solvent. For example, a titanium precursor, a silicon precursor, an aluminum precursor, a magnesium precursor, or the like may be used as the metal oxide-forming precursor. At this time, the metal oxide thin film is formed with a uniform thickness of about 20 to 150 mu m on the entire surface of the carbon electrode, preferably about 40 to 100 mu m.

The composite electrode for water treatment manufactured by the above-described method includes a combination of the ion exchange function of the metal oxide thin film and the electrochemical characteristics of the carbon electrode, and can more effectively and stably perform the water softening or water treatment function. Further, since the metal oxide foil exists on the surface of the electrode, the hydrophilicity of the surface of the electrode is greatly increased, and the contact of the water molecule and the ion to the electrode is improved to improve the desalination performance in terms of speed.

Water treatment system using composite electrode for water treatment

3 is a view schematically showing a water treatment apparatus to which a water treatment composite electrode according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

Referring to FIG. 3, the water treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a working electrode 210 including at least one composite electrode for water treatment 200, a counter electrode 250 facing the working electrode, A power supply unit 290 for applying a potential to the electrode and the counter electrode, and a separator (not shown).

The water treatment apparatus 200 having the above-described configuration is an electrochemical water treatment system, and the electrochemical water treatment system can be divided into a symmetric structure and an asymmetric structure according to the characteristics of potential application. In the present embodiment, a symmetric structure is defined as a case where the same potential (+, + / -, -) can be applied to the working electrode, and the other case is defined as an asymmetric structure to constitute various electrochemical water treatment systems can do.

In this embodiment, the water treatment composite electrode may be used as the working electrode 210, and the counter electrode 250 may be formed of an electrochemically stable conductive material (e.g., graphite, Pt / Ti, etc.). At this time, the counter electrode and the working electrode are positioned close to each other in the water treatment tank 270, and a separation membrane (not shown) is formed between the electrodes to minimize the resistance between the working electrode and the counter electrode, . As another example, the water treatment apparatus may use a water treatment composite electrode as both the working electrode and the counter electrode 250.

The separation membrane is disposed in the water treatment tank 270 and is disposed between the counter electrode 210 and the working electrode 250. The separation membrane is a nonconductive separator having pores through which ions and water can pass, Etc. may be used.

The water treatment apparatus 200 may further include a pump for supplying water into the water treatment tank 270 and discharging the water treated by the reaction of the electrodes in the water treatment tank.

The water treatment apparatus 200 having the above-described structure can improve the electrochemical characteristics of existing processes by fusing ionization characteristics and electrochemical characteristics, thereby constructing a highly efficient water treatment system.

Hereinafter, embodiments and evaluation examples will be described in more detail to facilitate understanding of the present invention. However, the following examples according to the present invention can be modified into various other forms, and the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the following examples. Embodiments of the present invention are provided to more fully describe the present invention to those skilled in the art.

Example 1

78 parts by weight of graphite and 15 parts by weight of carbon nanotubes having nanoparticles were mixed and dispersed so as to have a single phase state, and then 7 parts by weight of polytetrafluoroethylene resin as a binder and 4 parts by weight of ethanol were mixed and mixed to form conductive Paste. Thereafter, the conductive paste was formed into a carbon electrode, dried and compressed to form a carbon electrode. Then, a titanium precursor (titanium butoxide) dissolved in isopropyl alcohol was sol-gel coated on the surface of the carbon electrode to form a titanium oxide thin film having a thickness of about 60 to 70 μm.

Comparative Example 1

78 parts by weight of graphite and 15 parts by weight of carbon nanotubes having nanoparticles were mixed and dispersed so as to have a single phase state. Then, 7 parts by weight of a polytetrafluoroethylene resin as a binder and 4 parts by weight of ethanol were added and mixed to prepare a conductive paste. Thereafter, the conductive paste was formed into a carbon electrode, dried and compressed to form a carbon electrode.

Evaluation of water treatment electrode 1

The surface and cross section of the composite electrode for water treatment prepared in Example 1 and the surface of the carbon electrode for water treatment prepared in Comparative Example 1 were surface-analyzed using a scanning electron microscope. The results are shown in the SEM photographs of Figs. 4A to 4D. 4A is a SEM photograph showing the surface of the composite electrode for water treatment manufactured according to Example 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 4B is a SEM photograph showing the surface of the water treatment carbon electrode prepared according to Comparative Example 1 of the present invention 4C is a SEM photograph showing a cross section of the water treatment composite electrode prepared according to Example 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 4D is a SEM photograph showing a cross section of a water treatment carbon electrode prepared according to Comparative Example 1 of the present invention It is a photograph.

As can be seen from the SEM photographs of FIGS. 4A to 4D, the surface (FIG. 4A) of the water treatment composite electrode prepared according to Example 1 has a polygonal structure unlike the surface of the carbon electrode of Comparative Example 1 It was confirmed that the metal oxide (titanium oxide) was uniformly distributed on the surface thereof, and it was confirmed that it had a large surface difference from the carbon electrode.

4C) of the water treatment composite electrode prepared according to Example 1 through the observation of the cross section of the electrode shows that, unlike the cross section of the carbon electrode of Comparative Example 1 (FIG. 4D) It was confirmed that a titanium oxide thin film was formed in a thickness of 70 mu m.

Evaluation of water treatment electrode 2

In order to confirm the electrochemical characteristics of the composite electrode prepared in Example 1, the composite electrode of Example 1 was used as a working electrode and a counter electrode in a solution of NaCl (1000 mg / L) a cyclic voltammetry experiment was performed using a potentiostat apparatus having Ag / AgCl electrode (KCl sat) as a reference electrode. In order to confirm the electrochemical characteristics of the carbon electrode prepared in Comparative Example 1, the carbon electrode of Comparative Example 1 was used as a working electrode and a counter electrode in a solution of NaCl (1000 mg / L) A cyclic voltammetry experiment was performed using a potentiostat device with a Ag / AgCl electrode (KCl sat) as a reference electrode. The cyclic voltammetric method is an electrochemical method for measuring the current while changing the potential over time. The characteristics of the electrochemical reaction and the characteristics of the charge-discharge current can be confirmed through the cyclic voltammetry results. 0 to 0.6 V potential condition) Charge / discharge current characteristics were confirmed under conditions that no electrochemical reaction was formed. The results are shown in the graph of Fig. 5 below.

5 is a graph showing cyclic voltage currents of the composite electrode for water treatment of the present invention and the carbon electrode of the comparative example.

Referring to FIG. 5, in the result of cyclic voltammetry, an area represents a capacitance. The capacitance relates to an electrical double layer formed on the surface of the electrode during charging and discharging of the electrochemical system, It is a factor influenced by charge concentration and potential. As can be seen from the graph of FIG. 5, it can be seen that the area of the potential-current curve formed in the composite electrode formed with the titanium oxide thin film is very similar to that of the carbon electrode. This is because the electrochemical properties of the carbon electrode are not affected even after the formation of the titanium oxide thin film. This is because the titanium oxide thin film does not greatly affect the formation of the electric double layer. From these results, it was confirmed that the composite electrode retains the electrochemical properties before coating even after the formation of the titanium oxide thin film.

Evaluation of water treatment electrode 3

 In order to confirm the desalination characteristics of the water treatment electrode when the potential was applied, a composite electrode of Example 1 and a working electrode of Comparative Example 1 were respectively applied to a reactor containing an electrolyte to construct an electrochemical system, And changes in desalting characteristics were evaluated. At this time, a potential of 1.2 V was applied to the working electrode, and the electric conductivity and desalting capacity through charge / discharge were measured for 10 minutes while the flow rate of the electrolyte to the reactor was maintained at 10 ml / min.

6 is a graph showing the electrical conductivity of the composite electrode for water treatment of the present invention and the carbon electrode of the comparative example.

Referring to FIG. 6, it can be seen that the composite electrode formed with the titanium oxide thin film has a higher electrical conductivity than the carbon electrode. These values show that the composite electrode exhibits higher performance than the carbon electrode in terms of the desalination rate and the total amount, and that the efficiency of the storage desalination can be enhanced through the inorganic coating on the electrode surface.

7 is a graph showing ion removal amounts of the composite electrode for water treatment of the present invention and the carbon electrode of the comparative example. The graph of FIG. 7 is a graph showing the conversion of the electrical conductivity to the ion removal amount for a quantitative approach to the desalination performance. Referring to FIG. 7, in the 10-minute desalination process, the composite electrode having a titanium oxide thin film exhibited a high desalination performance of about 8.9%. The maximum ion removal amount of the two electrodes was about 7.3 minutes, and the desalting performance of the composite electrode was improved by about 20%. (Ion removal amount: about 17.2 mg / L for composite electrode, 15.8 mg / L)

From the above results, it was confirmed that the composite electrode formed with the titanium oxide thin film had no change in the electrochemical characteristics, but the ion accessibility to the electrode surface was improved, and the efficiency was higher in the desalting performance than in the carbon electrode.

The water treatment composite electrode of the present invention includes the ion exchange function of the metal oxide thin film and the electrochemical characteristics of the carbon electrode, and can be more effectively and stably applied to the soft water or water treatment apparatus. In addition, since the metal oxide foil exists on the electrode surface, the hydrophilic property of the electrode surface is greatly increased, thereby improving the contact of the water molecules and ions to the electrode, thereby improving the desalination performance in terms of speed.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. It will be understood that the invention may be modified and varied without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (13)

A water treatment electrode for removing cations in a water treatment process,
A carbon electrode including a conductive material including an active material, carbon, and a binder for binding the active material with the conductive material; And
And a metal oxide thin film coated on the surface of the carbon electrode. The composite electrode for water treatment according to claim 1, wherein the metal oxide thin film has a thickness of 20 to 150 탆. The composite electrode for water treatment according to claim 1, wherein the carbon electrode comprises 65 to 85 parts by weight of the active material, 10 to 25 parts by weight of the conductive material, and 2 to 10 parts by weight of the binder. The composite electrode for water treatment according to claim 1, wherein the conductive material containing carbon is nanosized carbon particles. The method according to claim 1, wherein the binder is any one selected from the group consisting of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyfluorinated vinylidene (PVDF), and polyfluorinated vinyl (PVF) Composite electrode for water treatment. Providing a paste for forming a carbon electrode in which a conductive material including an active material, carbon, and a binder for binding the active material with a binder is mixed;
Forming the carbon electrode forming paste so as to have an electrode shape;
Drying the formed paste for forming a carbon electrode to form a carbon electrode for water treatment; And
And forming a metal oxide thin film on the surface of the water treatment carbon electrode. The method of claim 6, wherein the metal oxide thin film is formed by a sol-gel coating method. The method of claim 7, wherein the metal precursor is selected from the group consisting of a titanium precursor, an aluminum precursor, a magnesium precursor, and a silicon precursor. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the metal oxide thin film is formed to have a thickness of 20 to 150 mu m. A composite electrode for water treatment comprising a carbon composite electrode for water treatment comprising a conductive material including an active material, carbon, and a binder for binding the active material with a conductive material, and a metal oxide thin film formed on a surface of the carbon composite electrode for water treatment.
A counter electrode facing the water-treatment composite electrode body; And
And a power supply unit for applying power to the composite electrode body for water treatment and the counter electrode. The water treatment apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the metal oxide thin film is formed to have a thickness of 20 to 150 탆 by a sol-gel coating method. 11. The water treatment apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising a separation membrane located between the water treatment composite electrode and the counter electrode. The water treatment apparatus according to claim 10, wherein a carbon electrode comprising carbon or a metal electrode including a metal is applied as the counter electrode.

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