Apparatus and process for separation and selective recomposition of ions

A process for capacitive generation of ion streams, comprising:

• a) providing a first electrolyte solution in a first insulated container and a second electrolyte solution in a second insulated container, wherein each solution comprises an equal amount of positive ions and negative ions;
• b) separating the positive ions from the negative ions in each of the first and second electrolyte solutions by placing electrodes made of materials selected from the group consisting of activated carbon, carbon aerogel and carbon aerogel composites in each of the first and second electrolyte solutions and applying an electric voltage to the electrodes such that two capacitors in series are formed in each of the first and second electrolyte solutions;
• c) electrically drawing the ions out of each of the first and second solutions as positive and negative ion streams, wherein the positive and negative ion streams are generated in a continuous fashion and are selectively drawn through an ion selective membrane selective to the ion stream;
• and
• d) pooling the positive ion streams into a first ion sink and the negative ion streams into a second ion sink.