Electric Double-Layer Effects Induce Separation of Aqueous Metal Ions

Metal ion separation is crucial to environmental decontamination, chromatography, and metal recovery and recycling. Theoretical studies have suggested that the ion distributions in the electric double-layer (EDL) region depend on the nature of the ions and the characteristics of the charged electrode surface. We believe that rational design of the electrode material and device structure will enable EDL-based devices to be utilized in the separation of aqueous metal ions. On the basis of this concept, we fabricate an EDL separation (EDLS) device based on sandwich-structured N-functionalized graphene sheets (CN-GS) for selective separation of aqueous toxic heavy metal ions. We demonstrate that the EDLS enables randomly distributed soluble ions to form a coordination-driven layer and electrostatic-driven layer in the interfacial region of the CN-GS/solution. Through tuning the surface potential of the CN-GS, the effective separation of heavy metal ions (coordination-driven layer) from alkali or alkaline earth metal ions (electrostatic-driven layer) can be achieved.