New nanotube technology developed (desalinization)

[phantom power]

Or, maybe it will be a desalinization technology someday.

TROY, N.Y., Feb. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they have discovered how carbon nanotube membranes can be used to control the flow of water with an unprecedented level of precision.

By fusing wet and dry nanotechnologies, researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute say the have moved closer to the ability to transform salt water into pure drinking water.

Nanotube membranes can combine high flow rates and high selectivity in filtering very small impurities and other organic materials, such as DNA and proteins, from materials with high water content, the scientists said. The problem is that nanotube arrays are hydrophobic -- they strongly repelling water.

"We have, at a very fundamental level, discovered there is a new mechanism to control water transport," said Nikhil Koratkar, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Rensselaer and lead author of the study. "This is the first time that electrochemical means can be used to control the way that the water interacts with the surface of the nanotube."

The research is to be described in the March 14 issue of the journal Nano Letters.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20070214-08461300-bc-us-nanotubes.xml

[ThomCat]

1. Cool. If they can develop a cheap, efficient way to

remove salt from water they could change the world. No more fresh water shortages.

[The2ndWheel]

2. Control, control, control

Our seemingly endless attempts at control over this and that have gotten us into this mess. I'm sure we won't cause any problems this time though. But you can't stop progress, so who gives a crap.

[phantom power]

3. If you are worried about us having too much control over what's coming, rest easy.

[Odin2005]

4. NoMoreMyths is a luddite who never seems to make sensible posts.

[GliderGuider]

5. NoMoreMyths is a sensible person who's just a little further along the comprehension curve than most

There comes a point when you realize just how fucked we are, and that there is absolutely nothing that we'll be able to do about it. I'm still trying to sort out my response to that realization. It's hard to "Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here", but it's sure a legitimate reaction to the enormity of the crisis.

[The2ndWheel]

8. It's pretty undeniable

I think I love you too.

[GliderGuider]

6. I wonder if it might be able to replace heat distillation for ethanol production?

That would make a couple of guys who hang around here very happy.

[phantom power]

7. It seems theoretically possible.

They are a long way from actually demonstrating anything. It's one of those technologies that I'd like a "where are they now?" report on, in 5 years.

[NNadir]

9. It has been industrial practice to desalinate water around the world.

It is not necessary to have new technology to accomplish this. What is needed is energy to be used for this purpose.

Personally my big concern about desalination is this: What do we do with the salt?

[mainegreen]

10. Ship it to the North Atlantic? I hear there are some problems with some current or other.

Something to do with density. Should be cheap to do, right?

:P

(Yes, I'm kidding)

[phantom power]

12. I'm actually reading a book where humans attempt this in the near future.

This book is science fiction, or at least it was when the author started it.

Forty Signs of Rain
Fifty Degrees Below
Sixty Days and Counting

by Kim Stanley Robinson

[phantom power]

11. We don't need new technology, but it might be an improvement someday.

If I was, say, a prime minister of Australia, I wouldn't wait around for hypothetical new technologies. I would be building desalinization plants now using proven technology.

We can save the salt to fight off giant hordes of slug-people from planet X. Or dump it back in the ocean, since it's freshening anyway.

[Nihil]

13. One option:

> What do we do with the salt?

Mix it back in with the processed sewage outfall going back into the sea?
If the desalinated water is feeding a city, the returning water can have
the salt "added".

Of course, a much smarter way to do it would be to recycle the processed
water rather than dumping it back in the sea and desalinating more to
replace it ...
:shrug: