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VIDEO: Producing clean water at a lower cost could be on the horizon after researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and Penn State solved a complex problem that has. view more
Credit: The University of Texas at Austin, Penn State
Producing clean water at a lower cost could be on the horizon after researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and Penn State solved a complex problem that has baffled scientists for decades, until now.
Desalination membranes remove salt and other chemicals from water, a process critical to the health of society, cleaning billions of gallons of water for agriculture, energy production and drinking. The idea seems simple push salty water through and clean water comes out the other side but it contains complex intricacies that scientists are still trying to understand.
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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.