Water Treatment and Harvesting

A robust and sustainable membrane anti-biofouling approach is needed to ensure long-term continuous and efficient water treatment. A dynamic membrane with sufficient and reliable active sites to load anti-biofouling agents in the membraneʼs internal structure and reload them after the release process is proposed with the goal of sustainable membrane biofouling control.

Fabric distillation is proposed as a thermal desalination technique that employs hydrophilic fabrics to separate the vapour water from the feed water through capillary and Coandă effects.

Membrane desalination is a promising technology for producing freshwater from saline waters. Submicrometre-thick and nanopore-structured graphdiyne membranes on porous Cu hollow fibres accomplish nearly perfect NaCl rejections and ultrahigh water permeabilities.

Reverse osmosis of seawater is a popular though energy demanding process to produce freshwater. Interfacing reverse osmosis membranes with solar steam generation shows potential for a more efficient desalination process.

Membrane distillation is an emerging desalination technology to obtain freshwater from saline based on low-grade energy. Here the authors report on novel superhydrophobic hierarchical porous membranes with enhanced distillation flux suitable for desalination or wastewater treatment.

Developing efficient separation methods for oily wastewater holds significant global importance. In this study, the authors combine supewettability and bio-inspired topological structures to demonstrate a dual-bionic superwetting gear system with liquid directional steering to achieve oil-water separation.

While passive solar-driven evaporative systems promise higher economic and environmental sustainability in water treatment, many challenges remain for their effective adoption. Here, the author identifies three main pillars and corresponding issues which future research should focus on to bring these technologies to the next maturity level.

Minimizing membrane fouling is critical for their continuous and efficient operation. Here, authors demonstrate a wrinkled-pattern microparticles-decorated membrane surface can increase contact area with water molecules, expand steric hindrance, and inhibit adhesion and deposition of oil, achieving efficient migratory viscous crude oil antifouling.

The performance of membrane desalination of seawater is hampered by fouling. Here the authors develop smart gating hybrid membranes by surface coating with polymer-embedded thermosalient crystals. These membranes enhance pure water flux by over 40% in saltwater desalination by osmotic distillation.

'Covalent modification, while tuning the channel size and functionality, disrupts the structure of 2D membranes. Here the authors demonstrate controllable and selective mass transport, via nondisruptive non-covalent modification of sub-1-nm MXene channels, enabled by nanoconfinement effect.

Porous or crystalline materials are generally employed as adsorbents for environmental remediation. Here the authors employ nonporous and amorphous covalent organic superphane cages for aqueous iodine adsorption achieving good selectivity, high adsorption capability and fast kinetics.

Membranes with fast and selective separation of ions are universally desired in many applications. Here, authors inspired by biological potassium ion channels have constructed an MXene based biomimetic ion channel membrane to achieve efficient separation of ions.

Microporous organic nanotubes (MONs) hold considerable promise for designing molecular-sieving membranes because of high microporosity, customizable chemical functionalities, and favorable polymer affinity. Here, the authors report the usage of MONs derived from covalent organic frameworks to engineer 15-nm-thick microporous membranes via interfacial polymerization.

Membranes with precise ion-ion separation are critical for sustainable water treatment. Here, authors demonstrated controlled construction of a nanofiltration membrane with fast permeation and high Cl^-/SO₄^2- selectivity by simultaneous spatial and temporal control of interfacial polymerization.

Ion separation membranes are of importance for a range of applications, including water treatment, raw material recovery, gas separation, and fuel cells, but traditional research and development methods can be expensive and time-consuming. Here, the authors review the capabilities and limitations of artificial intelligence in the design of high performing ion-selective membranes.

Jan Kloppenborg Møller & Goran Goranović and colleagues introduce a data-driven twin methodology which balances physical knowledge with uncertainty quantifications. The approach makes it suited to application of real world problems with inherent unknowns. They demonstrate its application in the modelling and control of membrane water ultrafiltration

Harvesting osmotic energy in real world high-salinity solutions poses great challenges, authors propose nanofluidic membranes with a dual separation mechanism based on vermiculite nanosheets with an isomorphic substitution structure, showing excellent energy conversion in hypersaline environments.

Micropollutant removal in polymeric nanofiltration membranes is difficult to characterise due to pore heterogeneity. A force interplay framework was developed to describe adsorption in VaCNT membranes with defined nanopores, providing insight for the design of membranes with improved selectivity.

The permeation pathway length and tortuosity of nanosheet membranes are usually extremely large. Here, a facile, scalable, and controllable nanowire electrochemical concept is reported for perforating and modifying nanosheets to shorten permeation pathway and adjust transport property.

Clean water and sanitation are major global challenges. Here, Prof. Zhang’s group developed a two-dimensional cobalt-functionalized vermiculite membrane, which overcame the persistent membrane permeability-selectivity trade-off in water purification.

The structures and properties of membranes depend strongly on their preparation methods. Here, the authors present a plasma-assisted nonsolvent-induced phase separation method that allows to tailor the physicochemical and electrical characteristics of PVDF membranes for various applications.

With porous structure and photothermal conversion performance, Cu-porphyrin framework membranes exhibit high efficiency in the extraction of electrical energy from salt solutions, opening avenues for renewable energy.

The proactive approach to economically and safely extracting microalgae shows potential for efficiently controlling and preventing water blooms. A circular strategy mediated by a customized adsorber for electrostatic microalgae capture coupled with flexible magnetic collection demonstrates remarkable microalgae harvesting and recovery efficiency.

Physicochemical defluorination is arguably the best pathway to degrade polyfluoroalkyl substances. In the case of chlorinated polyfluorocarboxylic acids, it is shown that substantial defluorination can be achieved by an anaerobic microbial community via novel pathways triggered by anaerobic hydrolytic dechlorination.

The achievement of almost complete defluorination of chlorinated polyfluoroalkyl substances reveals insight into the degradation pathways of these persistent contaminants.

Electrocatalytic hydrogenation is an efficient process for treating oxidized contaminants in water. The use of a rhodium nanoparticle-modified palladium membrane electrochemical reactor presents a practical, safe and efficient approach to the treatment of water and can be applied to the hydrogenation of 12 different oxidized contaminants.

Efficient ways to disinfect water from bacterial contamination are essential for public health. Locally enhanced electric field treatment can be used to induce ultrafast bacteria inactivation with nanosecond electrical pulses.

It is challenging to treat emerging organic contaminants such as pharmaceutical compounds. Using the proposed plant-based zirconium–ellagate framework, this study demonstrates high removal efficiencies of emerging organic contaminants from real untampered municipal wastewater treatment plant effluent.

Polymerization-driven removal of pollutants in advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) allows for sustainable contamination abatement and resource recovery. Here, authors achieved pollutant removal via complete polymerization by tailoring d-band center of high-valent metal-oxo species.

Regulating the carbon evolution pathway during chemical oxidation is critical, but challenging, for sustainable water treatment. Here, the authors report an adaptive approach to drive carbon redirection from molecular fragmentation to polymerization under tunable nanoconfinement.

Fenton-like catalysts are used for degrading refractory organic pollutants but the synthesis of dual active sites is difficult to control. Here, carbon-assisted flash Joule heating synthesis results in a structure with single atoms and high-index facets for antibiotic and medical micropollutant removal from water.

Microrobot collectives promise new functions beyond individuals’ capability. Here, nature-inspired reconfigurable self-assembly of microrobots was created, driven by their photocatalytic and magnetic properties, showing potential application in water purification.

The regulation of heterogeneous material properties to enhance the peroxymonosulfate activation remains a challenge. Here, authors synthesize S−scheme heterojunction PBA/MoS2@chitosan hydrogel to achieve photoexcitation synergistic peroxymonosulfate activation driven by interface electric field.

Common methods for water disinfection involve oxidation or irradiation, and are often associated with a high carbon footprint and formation of toxic byproducts. Here, the authors describe a nano-structured material that is highly effective at killing bacteria in water through a hydrodynamic mechanism driven by mild water flow, in the absence of additional energy supply.

There is an urgent need to develop efficient Fe-based catalysts for the organic pollutant degradation. Here, the authors develop an iron-based nanomaterial catalyst via flash joule heating. This catalyst exhibits strong energy efficient catalytic performance over a wide pH range and is potentially scalable.

There is an urgent need to develop effective heterogeneous Fenton-like catalysts for water treatment. Here, the authors demonstrate that nanoconfinement of cobalt oxide catalysts in carbon nanotubes can selectively degrade pollutants at high reaction rate.

Piezoelectric fields can be exploited in photocatalysis to decrease the rate of photogenerated electron and hole recombination. Here, the authors demonstrate that a BaTiO₃/WS₂ composite is a highly effective piezo-photocatalyst for the degradation of water pollutant ofloxacin.

Charge accumulation in organic photocatalysts leads to an overlooked macroscopic particle migration, crucial for heterogeneous photocatalytic kinetics. Authors demonstrate self-driven electrophoresis of organic nanocrystals via rationally designed photogenerated outer electric field (OEF).

Photoelectrochemical systems have emerged as a sustainable technology for wastewater treatment. Here, Tang et.al report a bias-free driven ion assisted photoelectrochemical system that can utilize sodium chloride in seawater as a cost-effective additive for wastewater treatment.

Traditional mineralization of organic pollutants requires an excessive input of chemicals and causes undesirable carbon emissions. Here, authors report a nanoconfinement strategy to alter the carbon transfer pathway of phenol removal from ring opening route to oligomerization route.

In-situ wastewater treatment using advanced oxidation processes poses ecological risks. Here, authors introduce a decoupled oxidation process with single-atom copper-based electrodes. This strategy overcomes drawbacks of AOPs, offering a sustainable and efficient in-situ treatment solution.

In this study, the authors explored the correlation between the structure and optoelectronic properties of metal organic frameworks for the removal of a harmful herbicide from water.

The overuse of chemicals in our disinfection processes has warranted the development of alternatives. Here, authors use a lab-on-a-chip device to study and observe the synergistic effects of electric field treatment and copper for inactivation of bacteria with promising applications in many fields.

Sorbent-assisted atmospheric water harvesting is one of the technologies currently explored to produce clean water especially in dry land locations. A metal–organic framework harvester has been shown to harvest water effectively in the Death Valley.

Solar-powered interfacial system has emerged as a sustainable, efficient and CO₂-neutral strategy to produce clean water. The solar-powered graphene/alginate hydrogel-based clean water extractor shows super resistance to the transport of complex contaminants and has an ultra-antifouling capacity.

Sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting has the capability of capturing water from air anytime and anywhere. A facile strategy to synthesize bidirectionally aligned and hierarchically structured nanocomposite could realize scalable and efficient sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting.

Flue gas is a rich source of water and energy. Here, authors provide a state-of-the-art system anchored in organosilica membrane technology, attaining impressive steam recovery, delivering up to 70% energy recovery, and offering a promising remedy for global water shortages.

A water harvesting strategy utilizing a hygroscopic lithium chloride impregnated cellulose scaffold yields high water harvesting rate with low energy input over a wide range of relative humidity. The strategy, reported by Wenkai Zhu, Yun Zhang, Chi Zhang and coworkers, provides a potential solution to the global water scarcity problem particularly in arid areas.

Hydrophilic metal-organic framework NU-1500-Cr is a high performing water harvesting material, but the mechanism through which it adsorbs water remains unclear. Here, molecular dynamics simulations and infrared spectroscopy are used to follow the water adsorption process in NU-1500-Cr from the initial hydration stage to complete filling of the MOF pores.

Sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting has the potential to realize flexible water production but reaching high water yield in semi-arid climate is still challenging. Here, the authors report a portable and modularized water harvester with scalable, low-cost, and lightweight hygroscopic composite sorbent which shows an exceptional water production in semi-arid climate with low relative humidity of 15%.

Conventional desalination processes generate clean water and reject brine to sea, which is harmful to the aquatic life. Here, the authors propose a low- cost scalable and foldable mangrove-mimetic device for solar thermal distillation and passive salt collection without brine discharge.