Membrane

Fraunhofer scientists have used ultra-thin diamond membranes to drastically cool electronic components and boost electric vehicle charging speeds, taking advantages of diamond's outstanding thermal conductivity.

When it comes to cleaning up marine oil spills, it's best if you can use a material that separates the oil from the seawater. Scientists have created a new organic membrane which does exactly that, and it's derived from oyster mushrooms.

A new type of desalination membrane uses a series of nanoscale tubes lined with a Teflon-inspired material that repels salts while allowing water to flow through with little friction. The team says it's fast, and requires little pressure and energy.

The vast majority of water on Earth is undrinkable, but desalination could be a vital technology to meet the world’s drinking water needs. Now, Korean engineers have developed a new nanofiber membrane that can operate efficiently for long periods.

It can be difficult to separate water from oil, which makes water pollution tricky to clean up. Now, researchers at North Carolina State University have found that a bacterial biofilm membrane can effectively let water through while keeping oil out.

Researchers have developed a new type of fabric that keeps the wearer much cooler. Made from different polymers in a relatively simple way, it can efficiently transfer heat and wick away sweat, while remaining water repellent from the outside.

Carbon dioxide is an all too common waste product of industry, belched into the air from smokestacks. Now, researchers have developed a new type of fluorinated membrane that can selectively filter CO2 out of flue gas at the point of release.

One opportunity for improvement when it comes to water desalination tech lies in the materials used for filtration systems, with scientists now putting forward a wood-based alternative to the plastic-based membranes currently in use.

Water filters get less effective as bacteria builds up on their surface. Now, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a new type of membrane that reduces such biofouling by actively killing bacteria with graphene – and in an interesting twist, it’s built by bacteria.

Water filters can get dirty and lose their effectiveness quickly. Now researchers have tested a new nature-inspired membrane that filters liquids using other liquids, making for a more efficient and longer-lasting membrane.

Water used for hand-washing is relatively easy to treat for reuse, and now engineers at ETH Zurich have built and tested a standalone hand-washing station for use in public places and developing countries that can do just that.

​A team of MIT engineers has potentially revolutionized the process of dialysis by creating a new membrane from graphene that is able to filter nanometer-sized molecules from solutions up to 10 times faster than current dialysis systems.