IIT Madras identifies molecular mechanisms to turn seawater into drinking water

The results of the study are useful in the design of novel RO (reverse osmosis) systems that utilise carbon nanotubes-based membranes. 

Researchers of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have identified the possible molecular mechanisms in water flow through a new nanopore geometry for desalination techniques to convert seawater to drinking water.  

The results of the study, which involved Swinburne University of Technology, Australia, and The Netherlands-based Delft University of Technology, are useful in the design of novel RO (reverse osmosis) systems that utilise carbon nanotubes-based membranes. 

DST-sponsored project 

The research team took inspiration from nature, specifically biological systems, for making efficient desalination membranes. The study was a sponsored project granted to IIT Madras by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, as part of Water Technology Initiative (WTI). 

40% population won’t have access to drinking water by 2023: Report 

As per a report of NITI Aayog, 40 per cent of Indian population will not have access to drinking water by the year 2030, and 21 major Indian cities, including Chennai and New Delhi, are at risk of running out of groundwater, which will impact around 100 million people. Scientific communities worldwide are looking out for ways how saline water in seas and oceans can be converted into freshwater for household and industrial use. 

The research was led by Sarith P Sathian, Department of Applied Mechanics, IIT Madras. The team that included Vishnu Prasad Kurupath from IIT Madras, Sridhar Kumar Kannam from Swinburne University of Technology, Australia, and Remco Hartkamp, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, has been working on nanoscale water transport through carbon nano tubes (CNTs) and graphene nanopores for developing better desalination membranes. The findings of the study were published in the journal, ‘Desalination’.  

The team observed that the hourglass shape of aquaporins – water channels in our cell membranes – helps in the simultaneous passage of water while excluding ions/salts from it and decided to check if the same structure enhances the desalination efficiency of carbon nanomaterial based membranes. The team found that how and why water conduction in carbon nanotubes is enhanced with the introduction of a conical or hourglass-shaped inlet. 

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