Innovative Membrane Technology Promises Access to Clean Water

Water scarcity has been referred to as the silent existential crisis of our time. Our planet has very little fresh water — and is running out of it quickly. Yet no one seems to be talking about it — until Active Membranes.

Wastewater Treatment and Remediation

This technology could be incorporated into water treatment systems at various stages including water treatment, effluent polishing, resource reclamation, resource recycling, gray water treatment, etc.

An All-Liquid Iron Flow Battery for Better Energy Storage

Flow batteries can serve as backup generators for the electric grid. Flow batteries are one of the key pillars of a decarbonization strategy to store energy from renewable energy resources. Their advantage is that they can be built at any scale, from the lab-bench scale, as in this PNNL study, to the size of a city block.

Exploring 3D Printing in a Weightless Environment

Recent experiments by a team from the West Virginia University focused on how a weightless microgravity environment affects 3D printing using titania foam, a material with potential applications ranging from UV blocking to water purification. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces published their findings.

Navajo Pottery-Inspired Ceramic Water Filter

Navajo pottery-inspired water filtration system developed by engineers at The University of Texas at Austin can effectively and cheaply disinfect water.

3D-Printed Graphene Aerogels for Water Treatment

The aerogels safely remove contaminants from water without releasing any problematic chemical residue.

AI Technology Foils Cyberattacks

The technology is aimed at protecting physical targets, such as utilities and infrastructure.

Cleaner Water Through Corn

Activated carbon made from corn stover filters 98 percent of a pollutant from water.

Water Purification System Engineered from Wood

The eco-friendly process removes heavy metals, dyes, and other pollutants.

Pre-Treatment Solution for Water Recovery

The solution increases water recovery, prevents mineral scaling, and cuts the volume of brines in half.

Standard Water Treatment Eliminates Enveloped Viruses Including Coronavirus

This treatment has the potential to remove from drinking water nearly all viruses that have an “outer fortress.”

Desalination Process Removes Toxic Metals

The desalination method produces clean water while, at the same time, potentially capturing valuable metals such as gold.

Filters from Tree Branches Purify Drinking Water

Prototypes show promise as a low-cost, natural filtration option.

Products of Tomorrow

Battery recycling, NASA's water treatment, and a wireless wearable transmitter.

5 Ws of the Sunlight-Powered Water Filter

The invention could help solve the problem of providing clean water off the grid or where low-cost, non-powered water purification is needed.

Products of Tomorrow

Head-up displays, health-monitoring sensors from NASA, and a pollen sponge.

Generating Renewable Hydrogen Fuel from the Sea

Membranes that remove salt from water help split sea water into fuel.

Material Advances for LED Quantum Dot Efficiency

Creating next-generation LEDs for novel efforts like COVID-19 decontamination requires LED manufacturers to reevaluate the materials that they’re using.

Wireless Aquatic Robot Cleans Water

Inspired by a coral polyp, this plastic mini robot moves by magnetism and light.

Q&A: Simple Solar-Powered Desalination

Lenan Zhang and his team at MIT developed a small, economical, highly efficient device to provide fresh drinking water using only the Sun for its energy input.

Process Turns Sand and Plant Materials into a Water Filtration Tool

According to the United Nations, 2.1 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services and the majority live in developing nations. A process was developed...

2019 'Create the Future' Sustainable Technologies Category Winner: Wave-Powered Water Desalination

Learn about the world's first wave-driven desalination system.

Rose-Inspired Device Collects and Purifies Water

A new device, inspired by a rose, inexpensively collects and purifies water. The device is a new approach to solar steaming for water production — a technique that uses energy from sunlight to...

New Imaging Method Aids in Water Decontamination

A breakthrough imaging technique developed by Cornell researchers shows promise in decontaminating water by yielding surprising and important information about catalyst particles that can't be...

Products of Tomorrow

This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that innovation.

Products of Tomorrow

This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that innovation.

System Selectively Sequesters Toxins from Water

Traditional methods, such as reverse osmosis, that remove contaminants from water are expensive and energy-intensive. Researchers have developed technology to remove contaminants from water, but...

Facility Focus: Savannah River National Laboratory

The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) — located in Aiken, SC — is the applied research and development laboratory at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS)....