Graphene foam membranes with tunable pore size for next-generation reverse osmosis water desalination.

The development of carbon-based reverse osmosis membranes for water desalination is hindered by challenges in achieving a high pore density and controlling the pore size. We use molecular dynamics simulations to demonstrate that graphene foam membranes with a high pore density provide the possibility to tune the pore size by applying mechanical strain. As the pore size is found to be effectively reduced by a structural transformation under strain, graphene foam membranes are able to combine perfect salt rejection with unprecedented water permeability.

Citation

Ho, D. T., Nguyen, T. P. N., Jangir, A., & Schwingenschlögl, U. (2023). Graphene foam membranes with tunable pore size for next-generation reverse osmosis water desalination. Nanoscale Horizons. https://doi.org/10.1039/d2nh00475e

Acknowledgements

The research reported in this publication was supported by funding from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). This work used computational resources of the Supercomputing Laboratory at KAUST.