Nanotechnology Now
Abstract:
A desalination membrane acts as a filter for salty water: push the water through the membrane, get clean water suitable for agriculture, energy production and even drinking. The process seems simple enough, but it contains complex intricacies that have baffled scientists for decades until now.
Controlling the nanoscale structure of membranes is key for clean water, researchers find
University Park, PA | Posted on January 1st, 2021
Researchers from Penn State, The University of Texas at Austin, Iowa State University, Dow Chemical Company and DuPont Water Solutions published a key finding in understanding how membranes actually filter minerals from water, online today (Dec. 31) in Science. The article will be featured on the print edition s cover, to be issued tomorrow (Jan. 1).
Biological membranes can achieve remarkably high permeabilities while maintaining ideal selectivities by relying on homogeneous internal structures in the form of membrane proteins. In new research, a team of scientists led by Penn State University and the University of Texas at Austin applied such design strategies to desalination polyamide membranes.
This 3D model of a polymer desalination membrane shows water avoiding dense spots in the membrane and slowing flow; red above the membrane shows water under higher pressure and with higher concentrations of salt; the gold, granular, sponge-like structure in the middle shows denser and less-dense areas within the salt-stopping membrane; silver channels show how water flows through; and the blue at the bottom shows water under lower pressure and with lower concentrations of salt. Image credit: Ganapathysubramanian Research Group / Iowa State University / Gregory Foss, Texas Advanced Computing Center.
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IMAGE: This 3D model of a polymer desalination membrane shows water flow the silver channels, moving from top to bottom avoiding dense spots in the membrane and slowing flow. view more
Credit: Image by the Ganapathysubramanian research group/Iowa State University and Gregory Foss/Texas Advanced Computing Center.
AMES, Iowa - Nature has figured out how to make great membranes.
Biological membranes let the right stuff into cells while keeping the wrong stuff out. And, as researchers noted in a paper just published by the journal
Science, they are remarkable and ideal for their job.
But they re not necessarily ideal for high-volume, industrial jobs such as pushing saltwater through a membrane to remove salt and make fresh water for drinking, irrigating crops, watering livestock or creating energy.