Capacitive deionization in combination with microbial fuel cell for desalination

Over the last few years the technology of microbial fuel cells (MFC) has become increasingly popular. One form of MFC called microbial desalination cell (MDC) has been shown to desalinate salt water without the use of high pressures or external voltages. While the research has great potential it currently has some limitations for practical use, with the most important being the increased salt concentration of the anolyte and catholyte. Besides MDCs, another method of desalination being currently researched is called capacitive deionization (CDI). One of the advantages of the CDI technology is that it allows for salt water to be desalinated without the ions being concentrated in an effluent. By combining the technologies of MFC and CDI salt water can be successfully desalinated without concentrating the anolyte and catholyte. This is a significant improvement in MDC desalination.