Using Ag nanoclusters to achieve mutually reinforcing water desalination and sterilization

Sustainable water purification requires simultaneous desalination and disinfection, yet integrated solutions remain challenging due to mutual interference between the two processes. Here, we report a synchronous capacitive desalination-sterilization (CDIS) system driven by a rationally engineered dual-functional anode of silver nanoclusters embedded in carbon nanofibers (Ag NCs@CNF). This electrode uniquely combines efficient chloride-ion storage with molecular-ike electrocatalytic activity, enabling concurrent high-capacity desalination (84.25 mgCl g−1) and complete sterilization ( > 4.0 log reduction, detection limit) via in situ reactive species (RS) generation. Beyond performance, we provide the unambiguous mechanistic insight into microbe-ion dynamics in capacitive systems. Contrary to the spatial-competition paradigm, we reveal that performance decay primarily stems from electrostatic shielding by live bacteria, while inactivated cells undergo a fragmentation-aggregation process that eliminates shielding. Remarkably, bacterial inactivation further enhances cycling stability by scavenging RS and mitigating anode oxidation. This work establishes an efficient integrated electrochemical purification platform and offers a theoretical framework for designing sustainable water-treatment technologies. An electrochemical system using silver nanoclusters can achieve simultaneous water desalination and sterilization, showing that bacterial inactivation eliminates electrostatic shielding and enhances stability by scavenging reactive species.