Indeed, if you spent a day at the beach, you might have noticed insects that seemed to walk effortlessly on the water. superficial tension To walk on water like on dry land. Their secret is a kind of mushroom-shaped micro-texture that covers the cuticle and hairs. These trap air microbubbles that keep them afloat. This type of structure is also found in water springs, inspiring scientists at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology to New water desalination membraneIndeed, saltwater from the ocean provides us with many resources.
Superhydrophobic perfluorocarbon membranes are used in the seawater desalination process. membrane distillation, which allows water molecules to be captured as vapor. Despite the efficiency of this The process of desalinating water, the membrane has its own problems. Membranes are expensive, do not decompose, and are prone to clogging and malfunctioning at high temperatures. Perfluorocarbon free alternativeThey then set their sights on the insect to create a membrane that can trap gas when submerged.
“Scientists have turned to the cuticle of water insects to create desalinating membranes that can trap gases when submerged.”
The team first created bioinspired silicon wafers The pores narrow at the entrance and exit. Tests have shown that the gas trapping properties of the material he retains for more than 6 weeks. The design was then replicated in a cheap and easy-to-manufacture material like methyl methacrylate (PMMA). In the final prototype, he can remove 100% of the salt in water for over 90 hours. Besides its production advantages, the design is eco-friendly. Now, the next step is to evaluate the industrial scalability of this technology.
Another challenge of desalination
Proposals in recent years have New desalination technology Some of them are posted on our page. However, in addition to developing new technologies to improve the efficiency of the process, one remaining challenge is dealing with the brine produced by desalination. Salt water is usually returned to the sea and can cause environmental damage and power consumption. At MIT, a new technological solution was proposed to convert brine into other compounds such as sodium hydroxide (also known as caustic soda). In addition to its uses in the chemical industry, this compound is used in water pretreatment to optimize desalination processes and alter acidity to prevent membrane clogging. You can also sell caustic soda, which increases the profitability of your plant. Finally, the MIT-envisioned technology could also clean machinery in desalination plants to obtain hydrochloric acid, a substance used as a catalyst in hydrogen production.
sauce: Phys.org, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
