These tiny holes could change how the world cleans water
Key takeaways
- The study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, describes a technology that could help industries cut energy use and dramatically increase water reuse.
- Many industrial activities depend on separating different substances from one another.
- Most facilities still rely on traditional approaches such as distillation and evaporation.
Why this matters: new research or scientific developments with potential real-world impact.
A team of researchers from the CSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI), the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN), Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and the S N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences has developed a new type of highly precise filtration membrane. The study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, describes a technology that could help industries cut energy use and dramatically increase water reuse.
Many industrial activities depend on separating different substances from one another. These separation processes are essential for tasks such as drug purification, textile dye treatment, and food production. Yet they are also among the most energy-intensive operations in manufacturing, accounting for roughly 40% to 50% of global industrial energy consumption.
Most facilities still rely on traditional approaches such as distillation and evaporation. While effective, these methods require large amounts of energy and contribute significantly to carbon emissions. Membrane-based filtration is generally considered a cleaner alternative, but conventional polymer membranes often contain pores of uneven size. Over time, those pores can change shape or degrade, reducing performance and limiting their usefulness in demanding industrial environments.