Synthesis of a layered double hydroxide-based hybrid electrode for efficient removal of phosphate ions in capacitive deionization

The removal of phosphate ions by capacitive deionization has become one of the most frontier research topics in the water treatment field in recent years. In this work, hybrid electrodes composed of nickel-iron layered double hydroxide (NiFe-LDH) - anchored on activated carbon fiber (ACF) were synthesized by a hydrothermal method and subsequently applied in capacitive deionization to remove phosphate ions. The adsorption performance of the two hybrid electrodes on phosphate ions was compared by CDI experiments. And the experiment was carried out for three hours to reach equilibrium, and the optimum adsorption of 33.48 mg/g was obtained using NiFe-LDH/ACF-2 hybrid electrode at room temperature (25 ?) and pH = 6.0. The results showed that increasing the loading capacity of NiFe-LDH on ACF might enhance the adsorption capacity of phosphate ions. Furthermore, the calculation of adsorption kinetics and adsorption isotherms elucidated that the adsorption capacity increased with the increasing of applied voltage. Meanwhile, the experimental data were fitted well with pseudo-first-order kinetics and Langmuir isotherms. Notably, it was observed that the pH first increased, then decreased during the adsorption due to the electrolysis of water, while the forms of phosphate ions was transformed. With low pH favoring the adsorption of phosphate ions.