From Treatment to Recovery represents a fundamental paradigm shift in how the water sector views saline waste streams. Rather than treating desalination brines and industrial saline effluents solely as disposal challenges, emerging electrochemical technologies now enable these streams to serve as feedstocks for valuable chemical production. In this context, we are pleased to report that our recent Environmental Science & Technology publication, “Direct Electrosynthesis and Separation Platform for Chlorine from Saline Water,” has directly led to the award of a $250,000 federal research grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation under its Desalination and Water Purification Research Program (DWPR). This recognition highlights the growing importance of brine valorization, decentralized chemical production, and electrified water treatment systems for building more sustainable and resilient water infrastructure.
Graph quoted from (https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5c02676)
In the published study, we report a scalable, multilayer, flow-through electrode platform that enables the direct electrosynthesis and in-situ separation of chlorine (Cl₂) from real saline waters, including seawater and reverse osmosis (RO) brines. Unlike conventional chlor-alkali processes that rely on high-purity brines and centralized infrastructure, our system operates directly on complex waste streams, offering a pathway toward decentralized and on-site chlorine production. Key technical advances include:
- Up to 97% chlorine selectivity with nearly 100% separation efficiency
- Suppression of toxic oxychloride byproducts, a major environmental concern
- Continuous operation enabled by a flow-through reactor architecture
- Production of practically relevant sodium hypochlorite concentrations (0.53–5.1 wt%) that meet environmental discharge and reuse standards
These results demonstrate that desalination brines—traditionally treated as disposal liabilities—can instead serve as feedstocks for value-added chemical production, improving both economic viability and environmental performance of desalination and water reuse facilities.
From Chlorine Electrosynthesis to Integrated Brine Valorization
Building on this foundation, the newly awarded DWPR project expands the platform toward an integrated, electrified, membrane-free system capable of simultaneous production of chlorine and ammonia from brine wastewater. This next phase directly addresses key priorities for the water industry, including:
- Reducing brine disposal impacts
- Recovering critical treatment chemicals on-site
- Lowering chemical transportation, storage, and safety risks
- Enhancing resilience of decentralized water treatment infrastructure
The project reflects a broader shift in water research—from pollutant removal alone to resource recovery and circular water systems—and highlights how fundamental electrochemical innovations can translate into deployable technologies for utilities and industrial operators.
This work was partially supported by the NSF–BSF program (Award No. 2215387), NJ Water Resources Research Institute (Award No. G21AP10595-01), and NJIT’s Technology Innovation Translation and Acceleration (TITA) Seed Grant, with invaluable collaboration from the Yuma Desalination Plant (Arizona), which provided real RO retentate for validation under realistic operating conditions.
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