Graphene and water treatment: introduction and market status - Page 3

Watercycle Technologies, a spin-out company from The University of Manchester, has secured initial funding for its technology that uses graphene-based membranes and systems to extract lithium and other minerals from brines and water solutions.

Led by Sebastian Leaper, a former PhD student from the Department of Materials at Manchester, Watercycle Technologies has taken Tier 2 membership of the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), with lab space and access to advanced 2D materials facilities and expertise in prototyping.

Researchers from China's Xiamen University and Hangzhou Dianzi University, working with Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands, have developed graphene-based woven filter membrane with excellent strength and efficiency for water desalination. 

Their development resulted in an efficient water filtering method using these graphene-based woven filter membrane (GWFM), leading to an improvement of water permeation and mechanical properties by the optimization of GWFM membrane and providing a new way to utilize nano-woven membranes for desalination.

Purafy Clean Technologies, a company (linked to Grafoid) that provides advanced solutions to the world's water challenges, has announced that it is collaborating with teams at both St. Lawrence College and Queen's University on a project that includes of both applied- and academic-level research and development for a made-in-Canada greywater recycling technology.

The multi-dimensional research and development project is set to last at least three years, with funding support in place from both federal and provincial government channels. The greywater recycling system will be installed at Kate's Rest Foundation, a property that provides permanent housing geared towards people who were once homeless or were at risk of homelessness in Prince Edward County, Ontario.

NematiQ, an Australia-based developer of graphene oxide (GO) membranes for water treatment applications, has reported commercial-scale manufacture of an innovative graphene membrane.

Over the last five years, NematiQ has developed a patented, layer-by-layer methodology to produce the graphene membrane. NematiQ has achieved a milestone by producing more than 1,000 meters worth of 1,000-millimetre-wide flat sheet graphene membrane, at speed, on an industrial roll-to-roll coating machine, showcasing its ability to manufacture graphene membrane at a commercial scale.

A new initiative has been established, to explore the development of various applications for graphene, from graphene-infused asphalt and concrete to water filtration systems.

To this end, researchers at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) will be working with top research institutions and experts from the University of Mississippi (UM), Jackson State University (JSU) and Rice University. The collaboration will explore graphene’s unique abilities in uses ranging from advanced materials-by-design to self-sensing infrastructure.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have recently refined the water desalination process, with graphene nanopores obtained using artificial intelligence.

"The ions are so tiny, and if you want to remove them, you need to either boil, evaporate, and condense the water, or push it through membranes full of very tiny pores," explained Barati Farimani, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. The current desalination and separation process is very energy and time inefficient. To combat this, Barati Farimani and his team have used artificial intelligence (AI) agents to design an improved method in a week that would likely take decades. "Ideally," he explained, "the best membrane should be one atom thick, such as graphene, a single-layer sheet."

Researchers from Korea's University of Seoul, Russia's RUDN University and several India-based institutes have created a nano-filter for water purification from synthetic dyes. The graphene-based composite can reportedly remove up to 100% of harmful compounds from water, and it can be used up to seven times without losing efficiency. In addition, the synthesis of the nanofilter itself is economical and environmentally friendly.

Synthetic dyes are used in industrial chemistry and pharmaceuticals. They reach the wastewater together with other industrial waste and pollute the environment. Existing methods of water purification are not quite practical, as the proposed adsorbents are usually disposable and work slowly. Therefore, scientists continue to look for effective and eco-friendly solutions to this problem. The team in this recent work has proposed a reusable graphene-based nanocomposite that can quickly absorb dyes from water.

MIT-led research team uses graphene oxide foam in a device that can extract uranium and other heavy metals from tap water.

Some kinds of water pollution, such as algal blooms and plastics that foul various bodies of water, are found in plain sight. However, other contaminants are not quite as visible, which potentially makes them more dangerous. Among these invisible substances is uranium. Leaching into water resources from mining operations, nuclear waste sites, or from natural subterranean deposits, the element can reach taps worldwide.

UK's G2O Water Technologies has reported securing its first commercial contract for the enhancement of water filtration membranes with graphene oxide.

The Company explains that the advantages of using graphene oxide lie in the enhancement of membrane performance, as it mitigates the effects of fouling one of the biggest challenges operators of membrane-based water filtration systems face. With a coating of graphene oxide, successfully developed and piloted by the company in the northwest of England in collaboration with Hydrasyst Limited, operators can improve operational efficiency, reduce energy consumption and decrease chemical usage. It is anticipated that this will extend the lifetime of the membranes, as well as significantly reduce the cost and environmental impact of water treatment.

In 2018, Sunrise Energy Metals (SRL) and Ionic Industries partnered up and established a JV called NematiQ to develop graphene oxide (GO) membranes for water treatment applications. SRL initially had a 75% stake in the joint venture, before increasing its interest to 83.2% in 2020. Now, SRL announced its plan to take full ownership of NematiQ.

NematiQ has developed a process for manufacturing GO, which can be applied to a membrane support to create a graphene oxide-based nanofiltration membrane (GO-Membrane). The GO-Membrane manufacturing process has reportedly already been demonstrated on commercial-scale industrial equipment.