• Turning the oceans into drinking water: Graphene can be made to be the best desalination filter ever
    40 replies, posted
[QUOTE]Add another item to the list of things one can accomplish using graphene, the wonder material of the future: Clean drinking water. Graphene could cheaply and easily remove salt from seawater, potentially turning the oceans into a vast drinking supply for thirsty populations. With properly sized holes, graphene sheets may be able to serve as all-purpose filters. For desalination, the key is in properly-sized graphene pores that can allow water molecules to pass through but not salt. The ideal size is about one nanometer — even a smidge tinier, three-quarters of a nanometer, is too small for water itself to pass through. The pores are not blocking thick salt crystals, necessarily — they’re blocking the atoms that make up salt. Graphene is special in lots of ways; one-atom-thick sheets of bonded carbon atoms, it’s the strongest material known, and it has important electronic properties. Its smallest possible bond is about 0.14 nanometers, so it can be hooked together in very tiny configurations, although this is difficult to do. At MIT, materials scientist Jeffrey Grossman and graduate students have been running computer models to determine the right pore size. They may need to bombard graphene sheets with helium ions to make properly-sized pores, or perhaps some nanostructuring techniques to grow the right size sheets. The pores may also need to be treated with other chemicals to make them interact with water molecules. Once it’s constructed, a graphene water purification system would be fairly simple, at least energy-wise. Modern desalination techniques require vast amounts of energy to force water through porous membranes at very high pressures. But a graphene sheet could filter it passively, interacting with ions in the saltwater. With the same water pressure as regular desalination plants, the graphene system would be hundreds of times faster, according to Grossman — or it could work at much lower pressure, and therefore lower cost.[/quote] Source: [url]http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-07/things-you-can-make-graphene-drug-detectors-transistors-and-tasty-drinkable-seawater[/url]
Curious if this produces enough sea salt to reduce the price. Salt becomes waste from this, after all.
[QUOTE=Stonecycle;36671513]Curious if this produces enough sea salt to reduce the price. Salt becomes waste from this, after all.[/QUOTE] How does salt become wasted after desalination?
Also would sea life be harmed during this terrafomation?
[QUOTE=darkedone02;36671747]Also would sea life be harmed during this terrafomation?[/QUOTE] I don't think anyone wants to turn the [I]entire[/I] oceans into freshwater in your fridge.
[QUOTE=darkedone02;36671747]Also would sea life be harmed during this terrafomation?[/QUOTE]I don't think they literally mean turning all of the salt-water on Earth to fresh water. oh wait was that sarcasm
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;36671775]I don't think anyone wants to turn the [I]entire[/I] oceans into freshwater in your fridge.[/QUOTE] Honestly if a section of the ocean the size of iceland was put aside as a desalinated "freshwater preserve" it could probably easily meet the worlds freshwater demands for several lifetimes. And not seriously affect the ecostystem in the ocean depending on how its done/controlled/placed/etc. Considering the world currently gets by on much less than 0.5% of the entire world's watersupply (only about that much is avalable freshwater to use, and we still only use a fraction of that percent. The rest of the freshwater is locked away in glaciers, bringing us up to about 2.5-3% of all water, being freshwater). Hopefully this works out though. Because according to the numbers above, it is predicted that within our lifetime humanity at large will go thorugh a very serious water crisis, especially in countries/states/areas where water is hard to come by (deserts, third world, etc).
Wouldn't this filter the water very slowly and get clogged easily?
It would be cool if they made a travel-sized hand-pump filter for on the go purification.
[QUOTE=darkedone02;36671747]Also would sea life be harmed during this terrafomation?[/QUOTE] Isn't only 1% of the world's water drinkable? I think it would take at least 10% to start getting concerned if we started converting it.
[QUOTE=GameDev;36671929]Isn't only 1% of the world's water drinkable? I think it would take at least 10% to start getting concerned if we started converting it.[/QUOTE] I think 10% is all we'll ever need ever.
[QUOTE=KorJax;36671841]Honestly if a section of the ocean the size of iceland was put aside as a desalinated "freshwater preserve" it could probably easily meet the worlds freshwater demands for several lifetimes. And not seriously affect the ecostystem in the ocean depending on how its done/controlled/placed/etc. Considering the world currently gets by on much less than 0.5% of the entire world's watersupply (only about that much is avalable freshwater to use, and we still only use a fraction of that percent. The rest of the freshwater is locked away in glaciers, bringing us up to about 2.5-3% of all water, being freshwater). Hopefully this works out though. Because according to the numbers above, it is predicted that within our lifetime humanity at large will go thorugh a very serious water crisis, especially in countries/states/areas where water is hard to come by (deserts, third world, etc).[/QUOTE] Stop pretending to be smart.
Let's get these made, Make sure everyone on the coast of Africa has them and Bam. Two problems solved. Dehydration, and rising sea waters
This is good. Lets keep doing good things.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;36671775]I don't think anyone wants to turn the [I]entire[/I] oceans into freshwater in your fridge.[/QUOTE] If there's money to be made, someone does.
[QUOTE=T.F.W.O.;36671901]It would be cool if they made a travel-sized hand-pump filter for on the go purification.[/QUOTE] but this exists already. it's a tablet with chlorine in it that purifies large quantities of water (i.e. bush walking, you have a 3L bottle and you come across some dodgy river or something)
[QUOTE=TheTalon;36672273]Let's get these made, Make sure everyone on the coast of Africa has them and Bam. Two problems solved. Dehydration, and rising sea waters[/QUOTE] I dont think rising sea levels would be fixed unless we relocated a butt load of water into reservoirs, and continued to refill them. You do realize what ever water we take out would eventually evaporate and precipitate, mostly over oceans. This system does not even lend itself to reservoirs really. And its about time we learned some new water purification methods. Reverse osmosis is ridiculous. [editline]8th July 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Pelican;36672396]but this exists already. it's a tablet with chlorine in it that purifies large quantities of water (i.e. bush walking, you have a 3L bottle and you come across some dodgy river or something)[/QUOTE] But with Graphene, it would be so much better.
[QUOT=Pelican;36672396]but this exists already. it's a tablet with chlorine in it that purifies large quantities of water (i.e. bush walking, you have a 3L bottle and you come across some dodgy river or something)[/QUOTE] Ever tried it? It tastes like shit.
[QUOTE=-Matt-94;36672192]Stop pretending to be smart.[/QUOTE] Great rebuttal, I'm now on your vague side of the debate, you are just too convincing.
[QUOTE=Pelican;36672396]but this exists already. it's a tablet with chlorine in it that purifies large quantities of water (i.e. bush walking, you have a 3L bottle and you come across some dodgy river or something)[/QUOTE] That's for dodgy fresh water, not seawater. If we could turn the oceans into fresh water it'd be fucking amazing news for, for example, Dubai. [QUOTE] Graphene is the basic structural element of some carbon allotropes including graphite, charcoal,[B] carbon nanotubes[/B] and fullerenes.[/QUOTE] [B]FUCK YEAH CARBON NANOTUBES[/B], is there anything you can't do
From [url="http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/115909-graphene-the-perfect-water-filter"]a similar article[/url]: [quote]In another experiment, Dr Nair & Co. sealed a bottle of vodka with the graphene filter. This allowed just the water to evaporate, effectively distilling it into super-vodka.[/quote] :v:
[QUOTE=Pelican;36672396]but this exists already. it's a tablet with chlorine in it that purifies large quantities of water (i.e. bush walking, you have a 3L bottle and you come across some dodgy river or something)[/QUOTE] Does it work on salt water? nope
[QUOTE=Pelican;36672396]but this exists already. it's a tablet with chlorine in it that purifies large quantities of water (i.e. bush walking, you have a 3L bottle and you come across some dodgy river or something)[/QUOTE] It doesn't desalinate water, it just kills germs and insects and that stuff. [editline]8th July 2012[/editline] Also it doesn't get rid of the main problem with desalination we have right now: The highly toxic salty waste it produces.
Damn, Graphine's like a mary sue [i]material[/i], isn't it?
What happened to the source? The link's dead.
People used to laugh when I said if you make the holes small enough the water will fall right out. Now who is laughing.
[QUOTE=Killuah;36673927]It doesn't desalinate water, it just kills germs and insects and that stuff. [editline]8th July 2012[/editline] Also it doesn't get rid of the main problem with desalination we have right now: The highly toxic salty waste it produces.[/QUOTE] desalination waste is mostly just table salt and trace elements like zinc, iron, and magnesium just split the salt into chlorine and sodium
[QUOTE=Headhumpy;36673206]From [url="http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/115909-graphene-the-perfect-water-filter"]a similar article[/url]: :v:[/QUOTE] Oh god. The Russians must not find this out.
[QUOTE=Headhumpy;36673206]From [url="http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/115909-graphene-the-perfect-water-filter"]a similar article[/url]: :v:[/QUOTE] This is more important than my article.
[QUOTE=Pelican;36672396]but this exists already. it's a tablet with chlorine in it that purifies large quantities of water (i.e. bush walking, you have a 3L bottle and you come across some dodgy river or something)[/QUOTE] But then you're drinking chlorine :/ They have iodine ones but those taste bad. Then there's "ceramic filter" ones or something like that that are similar to this graphene stuff, but I've heard they're kind of dodgy... so I think Graphene's the way to go (but they haven't told us about the negatives or anything yet so IDK)
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