In a press release, chemists explain a new method for removing salt from ocean water. This method is unique because the process requires less energy and removes the need for a membrane and by separating salt from water at a microscale.
The technique is called electrochemically mediated seawater desalination.
“People are dying because of a lack of freshwater,” said Tony Frudakis, founder and CEO of Okeanos Technologies. “And they’ll continue to do so until there is some kind of breakthrough, and that is what we are hoping our technology will represent.”
“The neutralization reaction occurring at the electrode is key to removing the salts in seawater,” said Kyle Knust, a graduate student in Crooks’ lab and first author on the paper.