CDI Design Optimization Patents: Leaders, Trends & White Space 2026
- 22 families, no runaway leader. The field is small and fragmented — co-assignee pairs cap at one link each, meaning no single lab or company has built a defensible filing cluster around cell architecture or flow design yet.
- Filing peaked in 2023 at six records, then flattened. With 2022 at zero and the trend not accelerating into the most recent years, design-optimization claims in this niche have not compounded the way core CDI electrode-material patents have elsewhere.
- C02F dominates; G06F barely registers. Only one record touches computational/simulation approaches (G06F30) despite the search targeting cell architecture optimization — modeling-driven design claims are essentially unclaimed.
What this patent set covers
This landscape isolates patent families at the intersection of capacitive deionization (CDI) — including membrane CDI — and explicit design-optimization claims: cell architecture, flow channel geometry, electrode configuration, and energy recovery. It excludes the broader CDI electrode-material literature unless those claims also address architecture or flow. The result is a narrow, 22-family corpus spanning 2015 through mid-2026, concentrated almost entirely under water-treatment classification C02F with a secondary presence in separation processes (B01D).
Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the most recent one to two years in any trend line will understate real filing activity — a partial 2026 and a flat 2025 are consistent with pending applications not yet published, not necessarily with abandoned interest.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 22-family corpus: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
A flat, low-volume trend with one spike
Filings sat at zero in 2017 and again at the 2022 midpoint, then rose to a peak of six records in 2023 — the closest this dataset comes to a filing wave. There is no sustained multi-year climb either side of that peak, which argues against reading 2023 as the start of a trend rather than a cluster of related filings.
Concentrated in water treatment, thin everywhere else
C02F (water & wastewater treatment) covers 21 of 22 records, with B01D (separation/filtration) overlapping on 10. A61L, C25B and G06F each register only once — the G06F30 hit in particular signals that computational cell-design methods are present in the search scope but almost entirely unclaimed in granted or published form.
Shares are the percentage of the 22 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Capacitive Deionization Design Optimization with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about capacitive deionization design optimization and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this corpus
Potential of zero charge-based capacitive deionization (US10793450B2)
The invention is a capacitive, aka electrostatic, deionization apparatus and method that solves the problem of short lifetime of conventional capacitive deionization (CDI) and of membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) devices and methods by shifting the Potential of Zero Charge of electrode surfaces through surface modifications. Such electrode surface modifications provide very long lifetime capacitive deionization devices and methods.Granted 2020-10-06 to University of Kentucky Research Foundation; the underlying application, US20160167984A1, is the most-cited record in this corpus.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20160167984A1 | Potential of Zero charge-Based Capacitive Deionization | 17 |
| 2 | WO2015138235A2 | Capacitive deionization system and method for operating the system | 10 |
| 3 | US20150299000A1 | Fluid handling system | 9 |
| 4 | CN118761371A | 一种电吸附脱盐的传质动力学仿真方法、系统及介质 | 7 |
| 5 | US20180186666A1 | System and Method for Reducing the Dissolved Solids of a Non-Potable Aqueous Flow | 6 |
| 6 | US10793450B2 | Potential of zero charge-based capacitive deionization | 5 |
| 7 | US20150298999A1 | Water treatment system | 4 |
| 8 | KR101721697B1 | Flow channel design of capacitive deionization unit | 3 |
| 9 | US10556812B2 | System and method for reducing the dissolved solids of a non-potable aqueous flow | 2 |
| 10 | CA3243825A1 | System and method for reducing the dissolved solids of a non-potable aqueous flow | 1 |
Citation counts are drawn from a searched corpus and skew toward older filings; treat them as a signal of influence on later filers, not as a measure of current commercial relevance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Read together, filing trend, IPC spread and citation concentration point to a field that is small, unevenly claimed, and still open at its edges.
A single-year spike, not a sustained wave
Filing went from zero at the 2022 midpoint to six records in 2023 and has not repeated that pace since. That shape is more consistent with a handful of related applications from one or two filers than with an industry-wide push into design optimization.
Claims sit in application, not in computation
Only one record carries a G06F30 (digital data processing / simulation) classification, despite the search deliberately including cell-architecture-optimization language. Design work is being claimed as a physical apparatus, rarely as a modeling or simulation method.
No entrenched filing cluster yet
Every co-assignee pair in this dataset appears exactly once. That is a fragmented ownership structure — useful for a new entrant, because no incumbent has stacked multiple overlapping claims around the same architecture.
Influence sits with early filings
The most-cited record dates to the earlier part of the window; citation counts in a searched corpus like this favor older documents by default, so a high citation count marks prior influence on later filers rather than current commercial weight.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to capacitive deionization design optimization, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
With 22 families spread across a handful of assignees and no repeat co-assignee links, this is not a market with an established leader to displace — it is a market with room still open.
No assignee shows recent-year filing activity
Every assignee tracked for recent-year momentum — including University of Kentucky Research Foundation and several corporate filers — shows zero filings in the latest tracked year. Given the 18-month publication lag, this understates true activity but also confirms no one has pulled ahead recently.
University of Kentucky Research Foundation is the clearest research cluster
The strongest co-assignee links in the dataset all run through University of Kentucky Research Foundation, paired separately with three named inventors. That points to an academic group building a body of related filings around potential-of-zero-charge electrode design.
Filing is US- and PCT-centered, with light coverage elsewhere
Ten records filed directly in the United States and six through the WIPO PCT route account for the large majority of this corpus. Europe, Canada, China and India each carry only one or two records, suggesting design-optimization protection outside the US/PCT corridor is still thin.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| GARDINER JACK C | 0 | — |
| University of Kentucky Research Foundation | 0 | — |
| TDS SELECT LLC | 0 | — |
| PUREWATER THERAPEUTICS | 0 | — |
| Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Hannam University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation | 0 | — |
| Jiangxi Copper Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| SULTAN QABOOS UNIVERSITY | 0 | — |
Where to take this next
The dataset points to specific next steps rather than a general conclusion — the field is too small for broad claims about where it is heading.
Check freedom-to-operate against the Kentucky cluster
Any electrode-surface-modification approach aimed at extending CDI lifetime should be checked directly against US10793450B2 and its related family before development proceeds further.
Run a freedom-to-operate checkProbe the simulation white space
With only one G06F30-classified record in scope, a claim built around computational flow-channel or mass-transfer optimization has little prior art to design around inside this specific corpus.
Explore white space in EurekaWatch for delayed 2024–2026 publications
The flat recent trend is partly a publication-lag artifact; re-check this landscape in 12–18 months as pending 2024–2025 filings surface.
Track this landscape over timeCommon questions about CDI design-optimization patents
This landscape identifies 22 patent families that combine capacitive deionization or membrane CDI subject matter with explicit design-optimization claims — cell architecture, flow channel design, electrode configuration, or energy recovery design. That is a narrow slice of the broader CDI patent literature, which also includes large volumes of electrode-material and desalination-process filings outside this scope. The dataset spans filings from 2015 through mid-2026, with the most recent year necessarily incomplete due to publication lag.
No single organization dominates this corpus; the strongest filing cluster runs through University of Kentucky Research Foundation, linked to a small group of named inventors around potential-of-zero-charge electrode surface modification. Every co-assignee pair in the dataset appears only once, which is unusual for a mature technology area and indicates the field has not consolidated around one or two major filers. Corporate names in the recent-momentum list, including TDS Select LLC and PureWater Therapeutics, show no filings in the latest tracked year.
Filing activity in this specific niche is flat rather than growing: the trend shows zero filings in 2017 and again at the 2022 midpoint, a peak of six records in 2023, and no sustained climb since. That single-year peak looks more like a cluster of related applications than the start of an industry-wide filing wave. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the apparent flatness in 2024–2026 should be treated with some caution rather than read as a definitive slowdown.
The dominant classification is C02F (water and wastewater treatment), covering 21 of the 22 records, with substantial overlap into B01D (separation and filtration processes) at 10 records. Smaller, single-record classifications appear in A61L (sterilizing and disinfecting), C25B (electrolytic production of compounds), and G06F (digital data processing, covering computational design methods). The near-absence of G06F classifications despite the search explicitly targeting design-optimization language suggests most claims describe physical apparatus rather than simulation or modeling methods.
Based on the IPC composition and gate analysis, the clearest under-claimed areas are simulation-driven flow channel geometry, modular energy recovery circuits, non-uniform electrode spacing, and membrane-CDI-specific flow channel claims — branches that fall inside the search scope but have almost no dedicated coverage in this 22-family corpus. The single G06F30 record found stands out precisely because computational or modeling-based design approaches are otherwise unrepresented. Anyone filing in these branches should still run a full freedom-to-operate search, since a 22-family sample does not guarantee the area is entirely open.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.