Nanotechnology-Enabled Solar Membrane Distillation (IMAGE)

Rice University

Nanotechnology-Enabled Solar Membrane Distillation

Caption

In conventional membrane distillation (top), hot saltwater is flowed across one side of a porous membrane and cold freshwater is flowed across the other. Water vapor is naturally drawn through the membrane from the hot to the cold side. In NEWT's "nanotechnology-enabled solar membrane distillation," or NESMD (bottom), a porous layer of sunlight-activated carbon black nanoparticles acts as the heating element for the process.

Credit

P. Dongare/Rice University

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