An electrochemical oxidation reactor includes rotatable electrodes inside a reactor vessel. The electrodes are mounted to support plates, which in turn are mounted on shafts. The plates are attached to each other in a spaced relationship so that a gap is formed therebetween. The plates are each electrically insulated from each other. The electrodes are mounted to the inside surfaces of these plates, inside the gap. The gap is sized to receive liquid to be treated so that liquid located within the gap will react with the electrodes. An electrical charge is applied to each shaft so that a dielectric is formed across the gap within the fluid located in the gap. According to a first embodiment, an electrochemical reactor includes containing two spaced electrode support plates. According to another embodiment, an electrochemical reactor includes several spaced electrode support plates.

In this disclosure, a process of recycling acid, base and the salt reagents required in the Li recovery process is introduced. A membrane electrolysis cell which incorporates an oxygen depolarized cathode is implemented to generate the required chemicals onsite. The system can utilize a portion of the salar brine or other lithium-containing brine or solid waste to generate hydrochloric or sulfuric acid, sodium hydroxide and carbonate salts. Simultaneous generation of acid and base allows for taking advantage of both chemicals during the conventional Li recovery from brines and mineral rocks. The desalinated water can also be used for the washing steps on the recovery process or returned into the evaporation ponds. The method also can be used for the direct conversion of lithium salts to the high value LiOH product. The method does not produce any solid effluent which makes it easy-to-adopt for use in existing industrial Li recovery plants.

A device for removing ions from a flow of water includes a first electrode and a counter-electrode opposite the first electrode in the flow of water. The first electrode contains at least one material which is capable of intercalating one or both of Mg.sup.2+ and Ca.sup.2+ ions in the flow of water. The counter-electrode can include a material capable of binding to anions in the flow of water.

An unwanted matter removal device includes a removal tank 10, a pair of electrodes 31A and 31B disposed in the removal tank 10, a flow path 40 composed of the pair of electrodes 31A and 31B, a Fenton's reagent introduction portion that introduces a Fenton's reagent into the flow path, a liquid introduction portion that introduces a liquid containing an unwanted matter that should be removed into the flow path and a liquid discharge portion that discharges the liquid from the flow path, and the pair of electrodes 31A and 31B are composed of comb-like electrodes.

A current conductor for use in an electrochemical device for removing ions from a solution. The current conductor includes a current conductor substrate having a current conductor surface. The current conductor also includes an anti-corrosive, anti-reactive coating coated onto the current conductor surface. The anti-corrosive, anti-reactive coating contains a material with a chemical composition of AO.sub.y, where A= Zr, Nb, Ti, or a combination thereof and 2 < y < 3; M.sub.xAO.sub.y, where M= Ca, Mg, Na, or a combination thereof, A= Zr, Nb, Ti, or a combination thereof, 0 < x < 2, and 2 < y < 3; MgCr.sub.2O.sub.4; or a combination thereof.

Methods for electrochemically oxidizing organic compounds in aqueous solution. The methods include contacting an aqueous solution comprising organic compounds with a first anode and electrochemically oxidizing at least a portion of the organic compounds to provide a first aqueous solution comprising oxidation products; and contacting the first aqueous solution comprising oxidation products with a first cathode and electrochemically reducing at least a portion of the oxidation products to provide a first aqueous solution comprising reduced products and residual oxidizable organic compounds. The first aqueous solution can be further treated to electrochemically oxidize at least a portion of the residual oxidizable organic compounds to provide a second aqueous solution comprising oxidation products, and the second aqueous solution can be further treated to electrochemically reduce at least a portion of the oxidation products to provide a third aqueous solution comprising reduced products and residual oxidizable organic compounds. Systems for electrochemically oxidizing organic compounds and effectively carrying out the methods are also provided.

A hair perm forming method using electrolyzed water multiple times or for a predetermined period of time or more was revealed to have effects that cause very little damage to the hair to enable repeated treatments, enable perming of damaged hair and blonde hair compared with existing methods, show oxidative power higher than that of hydrogen peroxide, cause less hair damage, suppress dandruff bacteria, and significantly decrease the elution of dyes after perming. Therefore, the hair perm forming method can be advantageously used to effectively form a perm without harm to the human body. In addition, the washing of dyed and permed hair, dyed hair, and bleached hair with electrolyzed water, compared with washing with distilled water, has advantages in that the tensile strength of hair is maintained and the dye loss from the dyed hair is less.

The present invention relates to a hybrid system for water treatment, desalination, and chemical production. The hybrid system of the present invention includes a photoanode, an anode chamber, an anion exchange membrane, a middle chamber, a cation exchange membrane, a cathode chamber, and a cathode. In the middle chamber, saltwater or seawater is desalinated by photoelectrochemical electrodialysis. Chloride ions are generated during the desalination, transferred to the anode chamber, and activated by the photoanode. In the anode chamber, wastewater is treated by the activated chloride ions. In the cathode chamber, at least one chemical species selected from the group consisting of water, oxygen, and carbon dioxide is reduced by electrons supplied from the photoanode.

Saltwater to freshwater conversion cells are provided. The saltwater to freshwater conversion cell includes a positive electrode; a negative electrode disposed opposite and parallel to the positive electrode; a first plastic perforated plate positioned adjacent to the positive electrode and between the positive electrode and the negative electrode; a second plastic perforated plate positioned adjacent to the negative electrode and between the positive electrode and the negative electrode; a power supply configured to generate an electric field between the positive electrode and the negative electrode; and a saltwater stream comprising a plurality of positively charged sodium ions and a plurality of negatively charged chloride ions, the saltwater stream flowing through the conversion cell. The positive electrode and the first plastic perforated plate define a chloride-dense water channel, the negative electrode and the second plastic perforated plate define a sodium-dense water channel, and the first plastic perforated plate and the second plastic perforated plate define a desalinated water channel. The electric field is configured to cause the plurality of negatively charged chloride ions in the saltwater stream to move through the first plastic perforated plate and into the chloride-dense water channel and the plurality of positively charged sodium ions in the saltwater stream to move through the second plastic perforated plate and into the sodium-dense water channel.

Water deionization systems based on electrochemical water desalination or softening using a capacitive or intercalative deionization devices including a stack of electrochemical cells. Each cell includes first and second electrodes and an ion exchange membrane. Each cell includes inlet and outlet channels with control valves that control the separation of the source water into brine (e.g., concentration) and clean water (e.g., purification) streams. The deionization device or module may include multiple electrochemical cells connected electrically in series, parallel or a combination of both. The cells may also be in serial, parallel, or combined fluid communication. The output water of one or more streams from each cell or collection of cells may be recirculated and combined with one or more input water streams to improve the electrochemical energy efficiency of the cells. The electrochemical cells at different rows may have varying electrode thickness, area and loading of the active material.