New Multifunction Water Filtration Membrane

Young Startup at Nanyang Technological University Has Developed a First-of-its-kind Multifunction Water Filtration Membrane with the Potential to Render Current Membranes in the Water Industry Obsolete

Two-year-old startupmade-in-NTU membrane lasts twice as long when compared to conventional membranes, is highly resistant to breakage, and has anti-bacterial and anti-biofouling properties. Another groundbreaking characteristic - it allows for an unprecedented flow rate of at least ten times faster than current water filtration membranes.

Developed by NTU start-upNano Sun, at the centre of this breakthrough multifunction membrane is a patented titanium dioxide nanotechnology. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles are proven to kill bacteria and to break down organic compounds in waste water with the help of sunlight or Ultra Violet (UV) rays.

Invented by Associate Professor Darren Sun, from NTU's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the startup is cofounded by Adjunct Professor Wong Ann Chai from NTU's Nanyang Business School, formerly an investment banker from DBS Bank and Normura Singapore.

Despite Nano Sun being only two years old, it has an valuation of USD$80 million, due to the industry's recognition of the immense potential of the new technology that can help to solve some of the most critical problems faced by the water industry.

"With more of the world's population moving into urban cities and generating more wastewater, there is a real need for cost-effective technology. Traditional polymer-based water filtration membranes are faced with issues such as fouling and high breakage, while the developing countries with high industrial output are generating wastewater which is increasingly harder to treat."

"What the world needs - and what we have developed - is a breakthrough technology which can turn large volumes of polluted or untreated water into drinking water quickly, safely and at a fraction of the cost," said Prof Sun, who has developed various systems that are used in water treatment plants all over the world, and the Shimizu Visiting Professor at Stanford University in United States.

Solving problems faced by the water industry

Biofouling and organic compounds are a huge problem for the $200 billion global water industry, as traditional polymer-based water filtration membranes tend to clog up with what they have filtered out.

With the new Nano Sun's membranes, biofouling is greatly reduced as organic material and bacteria are killed and destroyed when they come into contact with the membranes.

Any organic material that does not decompose can also be quickly burnt by putting the membrane in an oven heated to 700 degrees Celsius, since it is able to withstand high heat unlike traditional polymer membranes.

Source:Nanyang Technological University

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Taxonomy

• Filtration
• Technology
• Membranes