New Desalinization Membrane

Eric Hoek, UCLA Engineering professor shows a piece of his new desalination membrane. In this new membrane, the polymer chains of the tethered brush layer are in constant motion. The chains are chemically anchored to the surface. Water flow also adds to the brush layer's movement, making it extremely difficult for bacteria and other colloidal matter to anchor to the surface of the membrane.

Researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have unveiled a new class of reverse-osmosis membranes for desalination that resist the clogging which typically occurs when seawater, brackish water and waste water are purified.

The highly permeable, surface-structured membrane can easily be incorporated into today?EUR??,,????'???s commercial production system, the researchers say, and could help to significantly reduce desalination operating costs. Their findings appear in the current issue of the Journal of Materials Chemistry.

Reverse-osmosis (RO) desalination uses high pressure to force polluted water through the pores of a membrane. While water molecules pass through the pores, mineral salt ions, bacteria and other impurities cannot. Over time, these particles build up on the membrane?EUR??,,????'???s surface, leading to clogging and membrane damage. This scaling and fouling places higher energy demands on the pumping system and necessitates costly cleanup and membrane replacement.

The new UCLA membrane?EUR??,,????'???s novel surface topography and chemistry allow it to avoid such drawbacks.

Another factor in preventing adhesion is the surface charge of the membrane. Cohen?EUR??,,????'???s team is able to choose the chemistry of the brush layer to impart the desired surface charge, enabling the membrane to repel molecules of an opposite charge.

The team?EUR??,,????'???s next step is to expand the membrane synthesis into a much larger, continuous process and to optimize the new membrane?EUR??,,????'???s performance for different water sources.