Fabrication of N-doped &SnO₂-incorporated activated carbon to enhance desalination and bio-decontamination performance for capacitive deionization

Herein, nitrogen-doped tin oxide intercalated activated carbon nanocomposite (N-AC/SnO₂) were prepared using hydrothermal strategy and explored as an electrode for capacitive desalination and disinfection. Although tin oxide (SnO₂) has good characteristics, the nitrogen must be carefully considered for modifying the characteristics of the carbonaceous materials to improve the performance as an electrode in the CDI process. The characterization of the proposed materials which investigated by XRD, TEM, FE-SEM, XPS and FT-IR affirmed the formation of the nanocomposite. The electrosorption behavior investigated by electrochemical techniques demonstrates that, compared to the specific capacitance of the AC and AC/SnO₂ (207.46 F g⁻¹ and 233.21 F g⁻¹), that of the N-AC/SnO₂ is higher at 408.8 F g⁻¹, and N-AC/SnO₂ exhibits better electrical conductivity. The CDI performance evaluated by batch mode experiments through an applied voltage of 1.2 V in a 50 mg L⁻¹ NaCl aqueous solution shows that the N-AC/SnO₂ electrode introduces a higher electrosorptive capacity of 3.42 mg g⁻¹, an enhanced desalination efficiency of 61.13%, and good antibacterial performance. Overall, the present study demonstrates that N-AC/SnO₂ has considerable potential as an electrode material for CDI application.