Very low temperature membrane-free desalination by directional solvent extraction

Abstract

We demonstrate a very low temperature membrane-free desalination technology, using directional solvents capable of extracting pure water from a salt solution without themselves dissolving in the recovered water. The recovered water contains negligible residual solvent and meets WHO and EPA salinity standards. This process is demonstrated to function effectively at temperatures as low as 40 °C, thus opening up a way to utilize lower temperatures, which may be obtained inexpensively from terrestrial or solar energy or by scavenging waste heat.