Michele Tedesco

TNO | tno

Electrospinning has been demonstrated as a very promising method to create bipolar membranes (BPMs), especially as it allows three-dimensional (3D) junctions of entangled anion exchange and cation exchange nanofibers. These newly developed BPMs are relevant to demanding applications, including acid and base production, fuel cells, flow batteries, a...

Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) is a promising carbon utilization technology, but the low-value products (i.e., acetate or methane) and the high electric power demand hinder its industrial adoption. In this study, electrically efficient MES cells with a low ohmic resistance of 15.7 mΩ m2 were operated galvanostatically in fed-batch mode, alternati...

Bipolar membranes (BPMs), a special class of ion exchange membranes with the unique ability to electrochemically induce either water dissociation or recombination, are of growing interest for environmental applications including eliminating chemical dosage for pH adjustment, resource recovery, valorization of brines, and carbon capture. However, io...

The use of electrospun bipolar membranes (BPMs) with an interfacial three-dimensional (3D) junction of entangled nano-/microfibers has been recently proposed as a promising fabrication strategy to develop high-performance BPMs. In these BPMs, the morphology and physical properties of the 3D junction are of utmost importance to maximize the membrane...

The atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentration has increased by nearly 49% compared to preindustrial levels. This increase is primarily ascribed to anthropogenic activities and has caused rapid climate change in recent years. Direct air capture (DAC) technologies, aiming to remove CO 2 directly from the atmosphere, are indispensable for mitig...

Direct air capture (DAC) aims to remove CO 2 directly from the atmosphere. In this study, we have demonstrated proof-of-concept of a DAC process combining CO 2 adsorption in a packed bed of amine-functionalized anion exchange resins (AERs) with a pH swing regeneration using an electrochemical cell (EC). The resin bed was regenerated using the alkal...

Agricultural development, extensive industrialization, and rapid growth of the global population have inadvertently been accompanied by environmental pollution. Water pollution is exacerbated by the decreasing ability of traditional treatment methods to comply with tightening environmental standards. This review provides a comprehensive description...

When performing electrodialysis (ED) to desalinate a stream, both the energy for desalination and the energy for pumping contribute to the total energy consumption, although under typical working conditions (e.g., brackish water desalination) the latter is usually negligible. However, the energy penalty might increase when desalinating viscous mixt...

The list of bipolar membrane (BPM) applications is constantly growing, thanks to the ability of BPMs to enhance water dissociation at low voltage losses and maintain a stable pH gradient across the membrane. Despite several BPMs are available in the market, a comprehensive characterization of membrane properties is still lacking, as BPMs are typica...

Electrodialysis (ED) is receiving increasing attention as promising technology for seawater desalination. However, most of the ED investigations are typically performed using artificial NaCl solutions, while the effect of multivalent ions (such as Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺) on membrane scaling and resistance has been so far overlooked. In this work, we investi...

Electrodialysis (ED) has recently gained much attention in the wide field of desalination and water treatment. However, energy consumption and capital costs may impair the process competitiveness. In this regard, limiting current density (LCD) and current efficiency (η) are key performance parameters for optimized ED systems. In this work, an exper...

With the use of bipolar membranes (BPMs) in an expanding range of applications, there is an urgent need to understand and improve the catalytic performance of BPMs for water dissociation, as well as to increase their physical and chemical stability. In this regard, electrospinning BPMs with 2D and 3D junction structures have been suggested as a pro...

The increasing share of renewables in electric grids nowadays causes a growing daily and seasonal mismatch between electricity generation and demand. In this regard, novel energy storage systems need to be developed, to allow large-scale storage of the excess electricity during low-demand time, and its distribution during peak demand time. Acid–bas...

Decarbonisation of the economy has become a priority at the global level, and the resulting legislative pressure is pushing the chemical and energy industries away from fossil fuels. Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) has emerged as a promising technology to promote this transition, which will further benefit from the decreasing cost of renewable ene...

Bipolar membranes (BPMs) are a special class of ion exchange membranes constituted by a cation and anion exchange layer, allowing the generation of protons and hydroxide ions via a water dissociation mechanism. Such unique feature makes bipolar membranes attractive for a variety of applications in many sectors, such as (bio)chemical industry, food...

CO2 capture from the atmosphere (or direct air capture) is widely recognized as a promising solution to reach negative emissions, and technologies using alkaline solutions as absorbent have already been demonstrated on a full scale. In the conventional temperature swing process, the subsequent regeneration of the alkaline solution is highly energy...

Energy consumption for seawater desalination by multistage electrodialysis (ED) is lowered last decade from 6.6 kWh/m³ to 3.6 kWh/m³. In multistage ED the driving force can be adapted to the conditions of that specific desalination stage. In this study however, we varied the membrane area, the residence time, and the membrane properties in the diff...

Electrodialysis (ED) is a membrane-based desalination technology that uses an electric field to force the migration of ions through ion-selective anion and cation exchange membranes. Salt water is highly conductive but during this desalination process, the produced water becomes more dilute and therefore less conductive. This effect causes a non-ho...

The effect of the thickness of ion exchange membranes has been investigated for electrodialysis (ED) and reverse electrodialysis (RED), both experimentally and through theoretical modeling. By developing a two-dimensional model based on Nernst-Planck theory, we theoretically find that reducing the membrane thickness benefits process performance onl...

Recently we showed that membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) can be used to capture CO2, but we found that the performance decreases with decreasing current density. In the present study, we investigate the effect of electrodes and ion exchange membranes by performing experiments with two membranes (CO2-MCDI), with one membrane (cation or anion...

A new hierarchical model for the electrodialysis (ED)process is presented. The model has been implemented into gPROMs Modelbuilder (PSE), allowing the development of a distributed-parameters simulation tool that combines the effectiveness of a semi-empirical modelling approach to the flexibility of a layered arrangement of modelling scales. Thanks...

Electrodialysis (ED) is currently used for selective removal of ions and brackish water desalination, while for seawater desalination ED is considered to be too energy intensive. This research focuses on the viability of ED using multiple stages for seawater desalination. With staging, the driving force is adapted to the governing conditions at tha...

This work demonstrates the possibility to harvest electrical power from CO2 emissions by feeding CO2 and air gas directly into a capacitive cell. Hamelers et al. previously showed, that the available mixing energy of CO2 emitted into the air can be converted into electricity, but at high energy costs for gas-sparging in the process. In the present...

A crucial parameter for the design and operation of electrodialysis (ED) units is the limiting current density (LCD). This is often identified with the diffusion-limited current density, which corresponds to the complete solute depletion in the layer adjacent to the membrane. Current-voltage curves obtained from measurements with electrodes in cont...

The effect of the thickness of ion exchange membranes has been investigated for electrodialysis (ED) and reverse electrodialysis (RED), both experimentally and through theoretical modeling. By developing a two-dimensional model based on Nernst-Planck theory, we theoretically find that reducing the membrane thickness benefits process performance onl...

Reverse Electrodialysis Heat Engine (REDHE) is a promising technology to convert waste heat at temperatures lower than 100 °C into electric power. In the present work an overview of the possible regeneration methods is presented and the technological challenges for the development of the RED Heat Engine (REDHE) are identified. The potential of this...

This paper describes the experimental campaign carried out with a reverse electrodialysis (RED) demonstration plant (Marsala, Italy) with the main aims of: (i) evaluating the effect of various operating parameters, including the redox processes, on the system performances; (ii) using the plant for the simultaneous generation of electric energy and...

In this work we use the general space-charge (SC) theory for a combined transport model of fluid and ion through cylindrical nanopores to derive equations for the membrane potential and counter-ion transport numbers. We discuss this approach for ion exchange membranes assuming aqueous domains as interconnected network of cylindrical pores. The tran...

Reverse electrodialysis (RED) technology has grown significantly in the last decade, gaining a fast increase in its technology readiness level and presenting some interesting examples of RED pilot systems operating under very different real environments. In this chapter, an overview of technological developments and piloting examples are reported....

Transport of water through ion-exchange membranes is of importance both for electrodialysis (ED) and reverse electrodialysis (RED). In this work, we extend our previous theory [J. Membrane Sci., 510, (2016) 370-381] and include water transport in a two-dimensional model for (R)ED. Following a Maxwell-Stefan (MS) approach, ions in the membrane have...

Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) is a promising technology to extract energy from salinity gradients, especially in the areas where concentrated brine and saline waters are available as feed streams. A first pilot-scale plant was recently built in Trapani (Italy), and tested with real brackish water and brine from saltworks. The present work focuses o...

Electrodialysis (ED) and Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) are related technologies for water desalination and energy conversion, both based on the selective transport of ions through ion exchange membranes. Fundamental understanding of these processes requires the description of ion transfer phenomena both along and through the membranes. We develop a...

This work reports experimental data collected for the first time on a full-scale RED pilot plant operated with natural streams in a real environment. The plant – located in the South of Italy – represents the final accomplishment of the REAPower project (www.reapower.eu). A RED unit equipped with almost 50 m2 of IEMs (125 cell pairs, 44x44 cm2) was...

The use of closed-loop salinity gradient power (SGP) technologies has been recently presented as a viable option to generate power using low-grade heat, by coupling a SGP unit with a thermally-driven regeneration process in a closed loop where artificial solutions can be adopted for the conversion of heat into power. Among these, the closed-loop re...

The use of concentrated brines and brackish water as feed solutions in reverse electrodialysis represents a valuable alternative to the use of river/sea water, allowing the enhancement of power output through the increase of driving force and reduction of internal stack resistance. Apart from a number of theoretical works, very few experimental inv...

Reverse Electrodialysis (SGP-RE or RED) represents a viable technology for the conversion of the Salinity Gradient Power into electric power. A comprehensive model is proposed for the RED process using sea or brackish water and concentrated brine as feed solutions. The goals were (i) reliably describing the physical phenomena involved in the proces...

The Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) process has been widely accepted as a viable and promising technology to produce electric energy from salinity difference (salinity gradient power -e.g. using river water/seawater, or seawater and concentrated brines). Recent R&D efforts demonstrated how an appropriate design of the RED unit and a suitable selectio...

Salinity Gradient Power (SGP) represents a viable renewable energy source associated with the mixing of two solutions of different salinities. Reverse Electrodialysis (SGP-RE or RED) is a promising technology to exploit this energy source and directly generate electricity. However, although the principle of this technology is well known since sever...

Technologies for the exploitation of renewable energies have been dramatically increasing in number, complexity and type of source adopted. Among the others, the use of saline gradient power is one of the latest emerging possibilities, related to the use of the osmotic/chemical potential energy of concentrated saline solutions. Nowadays, the fate o...