New Solvent Improves on an Emerging Desalination Technology
Written by AZoMFeb 12 2021
Researchers predict that two-thirds of the global population could be affected by freshwater shortage by 2025. To address this problem, scientists from the University of Notre Dame have found that a new solvent an ionic liquid enhances a budding desalination technology: directional solvent extraction.
Solvents. Image Credit: University of Notre Dame.
Directional solvent extraction involves using a solvent to separate freshwater from a saline source with the help of low temperature thermal energy. This implies that the extraction method could use waste heat, or heat generated as a byproduct of other work, and solar heat.