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Another carbon nanotube desalination system launched

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 20, 2009 at 7:47 am

From Desalination & Water ReUse:

“A carbon-nanotube technology for water desalination and other liquid-based-separations has been licensed by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in the USA exclusively to Porifera Inc of Hayward, California, a company set up in 2008 to market the technology.

The technology first took off when it was funded by LLNL’s Directed Research & Development Program and supported by the Science & Technology Principal Directorate. Bakajin and Noy’s research originally focused on using carbon nanotubes as a less expensive solution to desalination.

Carbon nanotubes are special molecules made of carbon atoms in a unique arrangement which allow liquids and gases to rapidly flow through, while the tiny pore size can block larger molecules, offering a cheaper way to remove salt from water. Porifera is developing membranes with vastly superior permeability, durability and selectivity for water purification and other applications in the clean-tech sector such as CO2 sequestration. … “

Read more from Desalination & Water Reuse by clicking here.

November 20, 2009 · Filed Under Desalination

Comments

One Response to “Another carbon nanotube desalination system launched”

  1. dfb on November 20th, 2009 9:11 pm

    This comes in just as other research shows that some nanoparticles may be carcinogenic. :-) http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/11/nanoparticles-consumer-products-cause-cancer-study.php
    “[R]esearchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered that titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles could cause genetic damage.

    The study is the first to find that TiO2 nanoparticles caused single- and double-strand DNA breaks, in addition to chromosomal damage and inflammation in the mice tested – all factors that increase the risk of cancer.

    Though nanoparticles cannot go through skin (so that means sticking to lotion sunscreens for instance), once ingested they can accumulate in different organs since the body cannot eliminate them. Their size allows nanoparticles to go anywhere in the body, even through cells where they could wreak havoc on a sub-cellular level.”

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