A Rapid Separation of Ions from Aqueous Solutions

Application of the Simplified Electrophoresis Reactor Using a Porous Electrode

Abstract

A simplified electrophoresis reactor using a porous electrode was developed to rapidly separate ions from aqueous solutions. In this study, a stainless plate, a titanium plate, titanium powder packing, porous carbon material, and porous carbon material coated with platinum were selected as electrodes. An ammonium sulfate liquid was used as a testing solution. The concentrations of ions (NH₄ ⁺ and SO₄2-^{) in the electrophoresis cell were measured under various experimental conditions. The use of the porous carbon electrodes decreased the ion concentrations in the cell. The decreasing rates of ion concentrations changed, depending on the applied voltage and electric current. Additionally, the use of the porous carbon material coated with platinum was found to reduce the electrode resistance. In the experiment using the titanium powder-packing electrode, ion concentrations in the cell decreased gradually, however, changes of ion concentrations were not recognized in the experiments carried out using the plate electrodes. These results show that the use of porous carbon electrodes coated with platinum can enhance the performance of the electrophoresis reactor.}