Desalination is Graphene latest miracle

by Agis F.

According to researchers at MIT they come up with a new approach to water desalination, by using a as a filtration material sheets of graphene.

One promising source of potable water is the world’s virtually limitless supply of seawater, but so far desalination technology has been too expensive for widespread use.

The new method consist of one-atom-thick form of the element carbon, which they say can be far more efficient and possibly less expensive than existing desalination systems.

Image above: When water molecules (red and white), sodium and chlorine ions (green and purple) in saltwater, on the right, encounter a sheet of graphene (pale blue, center) perforated by holes of the right size, the water passes through (left side), but the sodium and chlorine of the salt are blocked. Graphic: David Cohen-Tanugi