Graphene’s Great Water-Filtration Potential Unveiled By New Research
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Academic
Graphene has proven itself as a wonder material with a vast range of unique properties. Among the least-known marvels of graphene is its strange love affair with water.
Graphene is hydrophobic - it repels water - but narrow capillaries made from graphene vigorously suck in water allowing its rapid permeation, if the water layer is only one atom thick - that is, as thin as graphene itself.
This bizarre property has attracted intense academic and industrial interest with intent to develop new water filtration and desalination technologies.
One-atom-wide graphene capillaries can now be made easily and cheaply by piling layers of graphene oxide - a derivative of graphene - on top of each other. The resulting multilayer stacks (laminates) have a structure similar to nacre (mother of pearl), which makes them also mechanically strong.
Two years ago, University of Manchester researchers discovered that thin membranes made from such laminates were impermeable to all gases and vapours, except for water. This means that even helium, the hardest gas to block off, cannot pass through the membranes whereas water vapour went through with no resistance.
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Taxonomy
- Sludge Separation
- Filtration