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Graphene Desalination

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STATUS - PRELIMINARY RESEARCH

COLLABORATORS NEEDED

Desired outcomes of this project

Design and build a system that can use graphene or graphene oxide to desalinate sea water and convert it into potable 

drinking water.

 

Description

 

Graphene, often referred to as wonder material, is a 1-atom thick carbon membrane that is the basic building block for graphite. It is heavily researched and used in various applications including batteries, solar cells, super capacitors, DNA sequencing, display and touch screens, and water filtration among others. Graphene is about 100 times stronger than steel and is excellent conductor of heat and electricity. Graphene also has interesting light absorption abilities - making it a key component in solar cells.

Graphene and Graphite

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms joined hexagonally. 

This wonder material has unlimited potential when integrated with other elements and can play an important role in almost any industry. Graphene is 

Graphene or graphene oxide membranes can be used to desalinate sea water and make it safe for drinking.

 

Why this is important

DrinkingWater covers 70% of our planet. However, only about 3% is fresh water - that we use to drink, irrigate and clean. Of this 3%, some of this is locked away in frozen glaciers, unavailable for our use - effectively reducing potable and drinking water to less that 2%. 

About 1 billion people around the world lack access to potable water. About 2.5 billion people are faced with water scarcity 3 months in a year.  Not having potable water is a problem for about 2.5 billion people because of inadequate sanitation methods — exposing them to deadly diseases like as cholera, typhoid, and other water-borne illnesses. Two million people, mostly children, die each year from diarrheal diseases alone. 

1 in 9 people have no access to safe drinking water. 1 in 3 have no access to a toilet.

By 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population will face severe water shortages. 

This project will drive the need to solve the problem of desalinating sea water and making it usable for drinking, irrigation, sanitation and other needs.

 

What this Project needs to move forward

 

 

 

 

Highlights of working on this project

 

 

 

Project Prizes

 

 

 

Sponsorship

 

 

 

Preliminary Research and Documentation

 

Documenting Results and Recommendations

 

[Project Name - linked to page], [Project Name - linked to page], [Project Name - linked to page]

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Size of water molecule

Size of virus

Size of bacteria

Size of other colloids

Size if the pore in the graphene oxide membrane

Building the desal system - drawing.

Drawing of the graphene oxide membrane.

https://research.csiro.au/graphene/ 

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39482342

 

This project is being developed as an open-source project with the following licensing:

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