TY - JOUR
T1 - High-flux water desalination with interfacial salt sieving effect in nanoporous carbon composite membranes
AU - Chen, Wei
AU - Chen, Shuyu
AU - Liang, Tengfei
AU - Zhang, Qiang
AU - Fan, Zhongli
AU - Yin, Hang
AU - Huang, Kuo-Wei
AU - Zhang, Xixiang
AU - Lai, Zhiping
AU - Sheng, Ping
N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): URF/1/1723, UK-C0016, SA-C0040
Acknowledgements: Commercial PTFE membranes and FO membranes were provided by N. Ghaffour and T. Zhang from the KAUST Water Desalination and Reuse Center. Z.L. acknowledges support from KAUST (grant URF/1/1723) and KACST (grant RGC/3/1614). P.S. acknowledges support from KAUST (Special Partnerships Award number UK-C0016 and grant SA-C0040), HKUST (grant SRFI 11/SC02) and the William Mong Institute of Nanoscience and Technology (grant G5537-E).
PY - 2018/3/5
Y1 - 2018/3/5
N2 - Freshwater flux and energy consumption are two important benchmarks for the membrane desalination process. Here, we show that nanoporous carbon composite membranes, which comprise a layer of porous carbon fibre structures grown on a porous ceramic substrate, can exhibit 100% desalination and a freshwater flux that is 3-20 times higher than existing polymeric membranes. Thermal accounting experiments demonstrated that the carbon composite membrane saved over 80% of the latent heat consumption. Theoretical calculations combined with molecular dynamics simulations revealed the unique microscopic process occurring in the membrane. When the salt solution is stopped at the openings to the nanoscale porous channels and forms a meniscus, the vapour can rapidly transport across the nanoscale gap to condense on the permeate side. This process is driven by the chemical potential gradient and aided by the unique smoothness of the carbon surface. The high thermal conductivity of the carbon composite membrane ensures that most of the latent heat is recovered.
AB - Freshwater flux and energy consumption are two important benchmarks for the membrane desalination process. Here, we show that nanoporous carbon composite membranes, which comprise a layer of porous carbon fibre structures grown on a porous ceramic substrate, can exhibit 100% desalination and a freshwater flux that is 3-20 times higher than existing polymeric membranes. Thermal accounting experiments demonstrated that the carbon composite membrane saved over 80% of the latent heat consumption. Theoretical calculations combined with molecular dynamics simulations revealed the unique microscopic process occurring in the membrane. When the salt solution is stopped at the openings to the nanoscale porous channels and forms a meniscus, the vapour can rapidly transport across the nanoscale gap to condense on the permeate side. This process is driven by the chemical potential gradient and aided by the unique smoothness of the carbon surface. The high thermal conductivity of the carbon composite membrane ensures that most of the latent heat is recovered.
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10754/627420
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-018-0067-5
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85042845041&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41565-018-0067-5
DO - 10.1038/s41565-018-0067-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 29507347
SN - 1748-3387
VL - 13
SP - 345
EP - 350
JO - Nature Nanotechnology
JF - Nature Nanotechnology
IS - 4
ER -