A new approach to water desalination

Graphene sheets with precisely controlled pores have potential to purify water more efficiently than existing methods.



Graphic: David Cohen-Tanugi










In addition, the material needed for desalination does not need to be nearly as pure as for electronic or optical uses, he says: “A few defects don’t matter, as long as they don’t open it up” so that salt could pass through.



The work was funded by the MIT Energy Initiative and a John S. Hennessy Fellowship, and used computer resources from the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center.

Topics: Graphene, Materials science, MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), Nanoscience and nanotechnology, Water, Desalination, Research, Jeffrey Grossman, Research Laboratory of Electronics


The time has come to quit talking about great ideas and inventions and start doing something with them. I think this discovery and concept is profound and sophisticated. When will great institutions like MIT start organizing and forming new startups that the average man can participate by purchasing common stock ? Please, don’t listen to the typical corporate shmuck’s ,blah, blah, blah.

Let these startups start returning profits in the form of dividends as soon as earnings go positive ! Let the system work as it should and not as it has been for the last 30 or so years. Let’s start seeing one idea after another come to market and the common man.

As an addendum I note that I see no reason why this idea could not be used to mine gold and silver from seawater, or deuterium, or any precious metal or material for that matter. I see no reason why you could not purify gasoline or other fuels for cleaner and more efficient burns using this method ! I see no reason why you could not filte

How about getting the following teams together to create precise arrays of holes in graphene needed for desalination?


A new approach to water desalination




Research update: Chips with self-assembling rectangles

This system can also produce features, such as arrays of holes in the material, whose spacing is much closer than what can be achieved using conventional chip-making methods.

@Wm. James:

While there has obviously been much intervention from politics and greedy corporations preventing such ideas from ever becoming a reality, things aren't as simple as many would seem. If such things went from working R&D prototypes directly to commercialized production, we'd have a major increase in lawsuits against manufacturers in a short time.

The point of posting such news is for more R&D, collaboration, and to raise the hopes of those who would benefit the most from such findings.

However, to simply suggest such a process could be used to filter seawater for gold, silver, or other metals....well, that's what material science 101 is for. We're talking atomic level here, you know H2O, pretty small molecule. Comparably smaller than that of an i.e: sodium-water molecule. It would be impossible to filter out everything but precious metals through such a membrane. Nice idea, but not that simple.

Purify fuels? It's not the fuel that's the main problem.

This new graphene sheet stuff is great, but I was just wondering what ever became of the ion concentration polarization research by Sung Jae Kim and Jongyoon Han, both in MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and colleagues in Korea? It was reported on in 2010. http://web.mit.edu/press/2010/...

Dear Folks,

Looking to solve the water problem is a huge task but if we simplify the systems on a natural way drinking water can be obtained out of seawater at 0.02 €/m³. I’m not an academic but after 20 years of experimenting in the backyard I’m able to de-bound seawater molecules leaving the salt etc. behind and re-hydrogenbound the H and O molecules to H²O.

I’m not able to change the world way of thinking that only academics can find answers and solutions so I’ll put it for sale on the market. The system can produce 113.000 m³/day, day and night. The results of the module are great at 40 ppm. I’m waiting on the official lab results.

Who knows maybe someone will start thinking and change their way of looking at things around them.


Seems like this will be a much more efficient process, but there's still a basic thermodynamic limit on separating salt from water. There must be over 300 psi driving pressure between seawater and fresh water in any membrane process, or the water will go backwards. That's why it's called reverse osmosis, the pressure is used to reverse the pressure gradient caused by osmosis of water from low concentrations of ions to higher concentrations to achieve equilibrium.

I have been researching desalinization for future benefits. I already understand the mining benefits plausible; however, in my model, I am trying to incorporate solar and sodium combustion as a means of continual energy via byproduct on a miniature mobile plant. My question revolves around the reclamation of pure sodium to be used with part of the intended product for combustion. My system would use considerable solar energy and time for startup, and I have no idea what the economical outcome could be, or side affects to the environment if successful in mass operation? Any ideas?

Can you tell me more about your system and the status of your prototypes and testing.

Thank you,

Dudley Burton


There has been recent concern rising about whether or not graphene can enter into the lungs much like asbestos and cause inflammation. Due to its nano properties, is this a concern that should be taken into account when desalinating water?

Grapheme will work like a microsophic mesh. The problem with mesh based systems is that the particles that are blocked from passing through sit on top of the mesh and create blockage.

I am skeptical as to whether you could viable filter water using graphine. I think the solution lines in reversing the solubility of salt using a chemical process so it can be seperated.

Perhaps through evaporation.

Wow! I am doing this for a science project and it is fascinating!

Hi! I work in my
capacity on sustainable advanced technologies primarily for benefitting people
who really deserve. For lives we often forget about. Ignorance has a limit and
when it is crossed, nature would forget us and our existence indeed. It is
already happening. Harry. marketmakerbd@yahoo.com CHEERS!!!!

Drinking WATER: what sustainable ideas you have on Arsenice removal and Desalanization for people hanging on the edge? share with me as I am into the application engineering on this and other sustainable technologies. Cheers!!!!

Why not start small and convert it safe enough to fight wildfires than start refining it for human consumption? Building Desalination Plants for wildfire's and strategically place them would be beneficial especially on the west coast. From what I can find out it would be cost effective vs chemicals, draining fresh water supplies, better for equipment and easy access.

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