Nanoarchitectured metal-organic framework/polypyrrole hybrids for brackish water desalination using capacitive deionization

New families of materials that may potentially replace dominant

carbon electrodes have emerged as a major research hotspot in the

field of capacitive deionization (CDI). Here, we report a metal–

organic framework (MOF)/polypyrrole (PPy) hybrid, in which conductive

PPy nanotubes that are running through each MOF particle have

the potential to increase the overall bulk electrical conductivity,

thus promoting such a system as a good CDI electrode material.

Consequently, the MOF/PPy hybrid shows a high desalination

capacity of 11.34 mg g1, which is amongst those of state-of-theart

CDI electrodes. Moreover, the MOF/PPy hybrid also shows a

superior desalination performance for brackish water and good

cycling stability, far exceeding typical carbon-based benchmarks.

This is the first example of CDI electrodes derived from direct MOFbased

materials, highlighting the potential of these hybrid systems

as promising materials beyond traditional carbon electrodes.