Unveiling Scale-Design Principle at Electrical Confinement Materials for Water Purification.

Electrochemical water treatment is a promising sustainable environmental remediation technology due to its eco-friendliness, ease of control, and significant effectiveness in degrading organic pollutants. The electrical confinement materials (ECMs) exhibit enhanced mass transfer characteristics that substantially reduce energy consumption and reaction time within the system. In this study, the design strategies of ECMs are evaluated from the perspective of trade-offs in equivalent energy drives, including pressure-driven and electric-driven forms. The reaction efficiency and the potential for interface anti-fouling are investigated across confined spatial scales. These findings indicate that, in scenarios characterized by the equivalent energy input principle, the ECMs can effectively address the challenges associated with material spatial scale design. This advancement facilitates the achievement of energy equivalence in the water purification process, particularly in addressing significant application challenges related to loading catalytic layers within confined channels. The result on the anti-fouling potential of ECMs indicates that an interface oxidation mechanism dominated by hydroxyl radicals is more effective in resisting electrode deactivation caused by dissolved natural polymers in the water matrix. This study offers key insights for designing anti-fouling and energy-saving interfaces with efficient mass transfer in water treatment, enhancing the potential of electrochemical methods.