ICRA hosted the PhD thesis defense of Anna Segués Codina, entitled Development of Graphene Sponge Electrodes for Electrochemical Water Treatment and Disinfection and supervised by Jelena Radjenovic.

The thesis addresses one of the major challenges in water management today: ensuring access to safe drinking water in a context marked by the increasing presence of contaminants and the decreasing availability of water resources. The research examines the limitations of conventional water treatment technologies, which often show limited effectiveness in removing certain contaminants and may promote the formation of toxic by-products during the disinfection process.

In this context, the thesis explores the potential of electrochemical systems as a sustainable alternative for decentralized water treatment. Specifically, novel manganese oxide-functionalized graphene sponge electrodes were developed and evaluated for the removal of contaminants of emerging concern and the disinfection of real drinking water through the elimination of Escherichia coli, without generating toxic chlorinated by-products. In addition, the research investigates the application of intermittent and alternating current modes as alternatives to conventional direct current, with the aim of improving the efficiency of electrochemical processes.

The results demonstrate the feasibility of graphene sponge electrodes as a low-cost technology for chlorine-free water treatment, as well as the potential of alternating current to enhance the performance of electrochemical systems. This work contributes to the development of new solutions to ensure safer and more sustainable access to drinking water, particularly in decentralized applications adapted to future environmental challenges.

The thesis defense can be viewed on the ICRA YouTube channel.