Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the agricultural sector faces two…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the agricultural sector faces two pressing challenges: water scarcity driven by increasing freshwater withdrawal and exacerbated by climate change; soil salinization caused by the use of saline water for irrigation and the accumulation of salts in the soil. These two challenges impact agricultural productivity, revenue, and security. Desalination offers a solution to the reuse of brackish agriculture drainage for irrigation without further exacerbating soil salinization. Therefore, on-farm desalination can potentially provide solutions to both water scarcity and soil salinization.electrochemical deionization is an emerging technology well-suited for the desalination of low- to medium-salinity brackish water with advantages of a low capital cost for small-scale systems, modularity, and ease of integrating renewables as alternative energy sources. In this project, we propose to use biomass as raw materials to fabricate novel nanocomposite electrodes for the desalination of brackish agricultural drainage. We will optimize the physicochemical properties of the electrodes by tuning material synthesis procedures. We will evaluate the desalination performance and durability of the nanocomposite electrodes in the treatment of brackish agricultural drainage. We will also monitor the release of nanomaterials from the electrodes during desalination. Finally, we will carry out cost analysis to quantify the economic benefits of using these electrodes for the desalination of agricultural drainage in regions plagued by water scarcity and soil salinization. Our long-term goal is to develop durable and economically viable small-scale systems that can be deployed on-farm for desalinating agricultural drainage using solar panels as the energy input.