Desalination using highly tunable absorptive membranes (IMAGE)

University of California - Berkeley

Desalination using highly tunable absorptive membranes

Caption

Polymer membranes with embedded nanoparticles that selectively remove ionic compounds (top) are employed in electrodialysis (bottom) to remove not only salt but also metals, many of which are toxic, producing pure clean water and a non-toxic brine that is easier to dispose of. The membranes (green and red) can be flushed and reused many times, while valuable metals could potentially be salvaged.

Credit

UC Berkeley photo courtesy of Adam Uliana

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