[Paulie]

This seems to be a good thing, as badly needed drinking water can be widely available to where it is now not.

Therefore, the ‘carbon footprint’ nutjobs will see to it the technology never sees the light of day.

[Moonman62]

If it really worked it would be on the market. These press releases are researchers campaigning for more grant money.

[z3n]

I see you rigged your carbon nanotube suit desert fashion.

[ifinnegan]

This is written very poorly.

For instance “The team found that water permeability in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with diameters of 0.8 nanometre significantly exceeds that of wider carbon nanotubes.”

They mean salt exclusion is less in wider tubes.

And they spelled nanometer wrong - nanametre.

Still it’s interesting.

[freedumb2003]

>>Ultra-thin carbon nanotubes can separate salt from seawater<<

But they won’t do it for less than $15 an hour. They are represented by gloria allred.

:)

[posterchild]

Can the structure be flushed out and reused or is it disposed of when its full of salt ions?

[nikos1121]

This is good to know in the event I’m on Naked and Afraid.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

From Wikipedia:

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification technology that uses a semipermeable membrane to remove ions, molecules, and larger particles from drinking water. In reverse osmosis, an applied pressure is used to overcome osmotic pressure, a colligative property, that is driven by chemical potential differences of the solvent, a thermodynamic parameter. Reverse osmosis can remove many types of dissolved and suspended species from water, including bacteria, and is used in both industrial processes and the production of potable water. The result is that the solute is retained on the pressurized side of the membrane and the pure solvent is allowed to pass to the other side. To be "selective", this membrane should not allow large molecules or ions through the pores (holes), but should allow smaller components of the solution (such as solvent molecules) to pass freely.

It appears that the article is talking about a new form of “semipermeable membrane” for use in “reverse osmosis."

[ckilmer]

I saw these kinds of experimental results 10 years ago. The problem is producing producing stable carbon nanotubes in volume at these dimensions.

[Conan the Librarian]

Hoping that this comes into effect soon. We’ll need a good watermaker for the boat when we head south.

The current reverse-osmosis machines are good, but, could be better.

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

Where does the salt go? If it quickly clogs up the device then this doesn’t help much.