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Carbon nanotube based composite membranes for water desalination by membrane distillation
journal contribution
posted on 2010-01-01, 00:00 authored by Ludovic DumeeLudovic Dumee, K Sears, J Schutz, N Finn, M Duke, S GrayNew technologies are required to improve desalination efficiency and increase water treatment capacities. One promising low energy technique to produce potable water from either sea or sewage water is membrane distillation (MD). However, to be competitive with other desalination processes, membranes need to be designed specifically for the MD process requirements. Here we report on the design of carbon nanotube (CNT) based composite material membranes for direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD). The membranes were characterized and tested in a DCMD setup under different feed temperatures and test conditions. The composite CNT structures showed significantly improved performance compared to their pure self-supporting CNT counterparts. The best composite CNT membranes gave permeabilities as high as 3.3 x 10-12 kg/(m x s x Pa) with an average salt rejection of 95% and lifespan of up to 39 h of continuous testing, making them highly promising candidates for DCMD.
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Journal
Desalination and water treatmentVolume
17Issue
1-3Pagination
72 - 79Publisher
Balaban PublishersLocation
Hopkinton, Mass.Publisher DOI
ISSN
1944-3994eISSN
1944-3986Language
engPublication classification
C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalUsage metrics
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