The journal Nature Sustainability published a study by Menachem Elimelech, professor of chemical and environmental engineering at Yale, and his research team on their development of a multilayer polyester membrane that is resistant to degradation by chlorine. This discovery could provide a more sustainable, lower-cost alternative to conventional membranes.

“The exciting component is that we’ve been able to develop a membrane that not only has performance, that is up to reverse-osmosis standards, meaning high salt rejection and high water permeability, but we’ve done so using chemistry that is also chlorine resistant,” said Ryan DuChanois GRD ’23, a doctoral candidate in chemical and environmental engineering and a member of Elimelech’s team. “To our knowledge, that hasn’t been done before.”

Polyamide has conventionally been used for RO membranes due to its ability to withstand a greater range of temperatures and pH levels in comparison to its alternative, cellulose acetate.

However, polyamide is intolerant to chlorine, which is used to treat wastewater before the filtration process. As such, the new material developed by Elimelech’s team marks a potential advance for RO membrane filtration.

Read the full story: https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2020/10/19/how-swimsuit-material-inspired-the-holy-grail-of-water-filtration/
For more about the Elimelech Research Group: https://elimelechlab.yale.edu/