Molecularly Precise Nanoporous Desalination Membranes

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a proven membrane technology for seawater desalination. Although the cost of RO desalinated water has been significantly reduced, it still remains fairly high, as compared to other drinking water sources, mainly due to the high operating pressures required (typically 800-1000 psi) and also the low flux of purified water through the membrane. Higher performance membranes are clearly needed to reduce both the energy consumption and capital cost of desalinating water. This proposed SBIR project will seek to develop a polymeric desalination membrane with a very thin skin layer of a covalently bonded polymer material having molecularly precise, size-selective nanopores, that will provide a much higher water flux than existing reverse osmosis membranes. In Phase I TDA will develop and characterize new reverse osmosis membranes based on a polymer membrane with a nanoporous polymer selective skin layer, TDA Research will test these new membrane for desalination under a variety of water salinities and temperatures and determine if the new membrane will allow TDA Research to meet the DOE goal for at least an order of magnitude increase in water flux, while maintaining the selectivity (rejection) of salt ions. This research project will seek to address the limitations of membranes used in seas water desalination. This project will develop a high performance membrane with a proprietary nanoporous polymer that increases the throughput of purified water in membrane desalination plants, thus significantly lowering the energy usage and cost. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: Commercial Applications include large municipal desalination plants, and other desalination application such as at-sea water purification (ships, military), power generation, oil & gas, mining and water systems at remote resorts.