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Extremely useful in the design of novel RO (reverse osmosis) systems that utilise carbon nanotubes-based membranes
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) have identified the possible molecular mechanisms in water flow through a new nanopore geometry for desalination techniques to convert seawater to drinking water.
The results of the study, which involved Swinburne University of Technology, Australia, and The Netherlands-based Delft University of Technology, are useful in the design of novel RO (reverse osmosis) systems that utilize carbon nanotubes-based membranes.
The team took inspiration from nature, specifically biological systems for making efficient desalination membranes. The study was a sponsored project granted to IIT Madras by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, as part of Water Technology Initiative (WTI).
As per a report of NITI Aayog, 40 percent of Indian population will not have access to drinking water by the year 2030, and 21 major Indian cities, including Chennai and New Delhi, are at risk of running out of groundwater, which will impact around 100 million people. Scientific communities worldwide are looking out for ways how saline water in seas and oceans can be converted into freshwater for household and industrial use.
Prof. Sarith P Sathian, Department of Applied Mechanics, IIT Madras said, “Our study has opened up the inside view of water and ion permeation through nanoporous carbon nano tubes (CNTs). They reveal the mechanisms responsible for the enhanced water permeation inside hourglass-shaped nanopores. It is hence possible that the same mechanisms be reproduced in a different system of nanopores which can provide a higher desalination efficiency.”