Facial deposition of Prussian blue on thermochemically functionalized carbon cloth: An efficient cesium recovery via electrochemically assisted ions adsorption–desorption process

An electrochemically assisted ion adsorption–desorption method using iron(III) hexacyanoferrate(II) (Prussian blue, PB) on a chemically treated carbon cloth (ACC) substrate presents a promising approach for the adsorption of cesium ions (Cs⁺) from contaminated water, due to its ease of operation, superior adsorption–desorption capability, rapid removal efficiency, and high selectivity. In this study, we improved the functionality of commercial carbon cloth (CC) using a simple yet effective acid rinsing under maintained thermal conditions, which embodied its high wettability and homogenous electrochemical deposition of PB. The PB-deposited ACC electrodes exhibited high charge transfer, fast adsorption, improved capacity, selectivity for Cs⁺ ions, and improved cycling performance. To the best of our knowledge, PB deposited on ACC fabric network demonstrates superior electrochemical adsorption capacity. Within 3 h of the adsorption kinetics, the PB-deposited ACC electrode shows a 1173 mg/g Cs⁺ adsorption capacity. It is the highest ever reported adsorption capacity for PB based materials with around 97 % cycling efficiency for twenty-one consecutive cycles, which is promising for real-world Cs⁺ separation, water distillation, and recovery applications. Our results confirm that the initial hydrophobic nature of pristine CC is substantially modified by acid treatment at 60 °C, which improves the surface wetting properties crucial for electrochemical performance and PB deposition. This study provides a new avenue for designing durable and high-performance electrodes for electrochemically assisted ion adsorption–desorption systems.