A major challenge is to find ways to passively desalinate water. Conventionally, reverse osmosis membranes are used, however, the drawback is the high pressure needed for these membranes to work effectively. In this work, we developed several multi-layered nanofiber membranes with high porosity that can be used in a forward osmosis system. We incorporated a wide variety of high surface area water stable metal organic frameworks to further increase the nanofibers porosity. This established an interconnected pore structure that can be used for desalination of water resulting in large energy savings and an ideal water production rate. Additionally, these membranes utilize an interfacial polymerization layer that addresses the internal concentration polarization problems typically found in conventional forward osmosis membrane systems. This multi-layer membrane can then be incorporated into a portable device that can be deployed into the field.

Nanofiber enhanced forward osmosis membrane

2019 Fall National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.