Nanoporous Insulating Oxide Deionization Device Having Asymmetric Electrodes and Method of Use Thereof

A nanoporous insulating oxide deionization device, method of manufacture and method of use thereof for deionizing a water supply (such as a hard water supply), for desalinating a salt water supply, and for treating a bacteria-containing water supply. The device contains two composite electrodes each constructed from a conductive backing electrode and a composite oxide layer being an insulating oxide or a non-insulating oxide and an intermediate porous layer. The composite layer being substantially free of mixed oxidation states and nanoporous and having a median pore diameter of 0.5-500 nanometers and average surface area of 300-600 m.sup.2/g. The composite layer made from a stable sol-gel suspension containing particles of the insulating oxide, the median primary particle diameter being 1-50 nanometers. The difference in zeta potential, at a pH in the range of 6-9, being sufficient to suitably remove alkaline and alkaline earth cations (such as Ca.sup.2+ and Na.sup.1+), various organic and other inorganic cations and organic and inorganic anions from water, preferably household hard water. One composite layer being constructed from a mixture of Al.sub.2O.sub.3, MgAl.sub.2O.sub.4 and/or Mg-doped Al.sub.2O.sub.3 particles, and the other composite layer being constructed from SiO.sub.2 or TiO.sub.2.

一种纳米多孔绝缘氧化物去离子设备，其制造方法及使用方法，适用于净化水源（如硬水供应），淡化盐水供应，以及处理含细菌的水源。该设备包含两个由导电背板电极和由绝缘氧化物或非绝缘氧化物及中间多孔层构成的复合电极。所述复合层基本不含混合氧化态，具有纳米多孔结构，平均孔径为0.5-500纳米，平均表面积为300-600平方米每克。所述复合层由稳定的溶胶-凝胶悬浮液制成，其中含有绝缘氧化物的颗粒，其平均初级颗粒直径为1-50纳米。在pH值范围为6-9时，ζ势差的差异足以适宜地去除碱性及碱土金属阳离子（如Ca2+和Na1+）、各种有机及其他无机阳离子和有机无机阴离子，尤其是家用硬水中的离子。一个复合层由Al2O3、MgAl2O4和/或掺杂Mg的Al2O3颗粒的混合物构成，另一个复合层由SiO2或TiO2构成。