Key note o lezione magistrale, 2021, ENG

Nonoengineering of 2D materials-based membranes for advanced water desalination

GUGLIUZZA, A

Institute on Membrane Technology (CNR-ITM), Italy

Water scarcity and hydrogeological instability represent critical issues for worldwide population and natural environment. Drinking and reusable water demand has exponentilally increased over the last years, causing many Countries to suffer poverty and environmental destruction. Sustainable solutions are demanded to manage natural resources and protect environment. Ecosustainable production of freswater is possible through the implementation of green membrane technologies enabling one to manage seawater as a natural source for reusable water and salts. Precisely, membrane distillation and membrane crystallization are regarded as two revolutionary approaches to produce freshwater and minerals. The low availability of suitable materials limits however their accomplishment on scale. Herein, polymeric membranes are engineered with exfoliated graphene and bismuth telluride. The new functional membranes are demonstrated to boost the production of large amounts of reusable water and crystals from hypersaline solutions. When confined in polymer membranes, 2D materials show ability to accelerate water evaporation from saline solutions under a difference of temperature across the film, resulting in mass-energy transfer governed-processes. High productivity-efficiency trade-offs and enhanced thermal efficiency are successfully obtained, suggesting the novelty of the use of nanomaterials such as graphene and beyond in advanced water desalination.

Global Webinar on Nanotechnology and Nanoscience (GWNANO-2021), Virtual, 20/11/2021

Keywords

Membrane, 2D materials, Water Desalination, Membrane Distillation, Membrane Crystallization, Graphene, Bismuth telluride, Exfoliated materials, Green water purification, Water, Nanomaterials

CNR authors

Gugliuzza Annarosa

CNR institutes

ITM – Istituto per la tecnologia delle membrane