Abstract
The growing population and energy demand, coupled with the depleting
fresh water resources has resulted in great progress in sea water
desalination (SWD) technologies. Nanopores of 2D materials like graphene
and its structural analogs are the latest innovations in membrane
technology for SWD. The performance of these novel atomically thin
nanopores as seen from various experimental and theoretical studies is
highly encouraging with reports of water permeability 2-3 orders of
magnitude greater than the conventional reverse osmosis (RO). The
potential for high efficiency and the low energy requirements of these
nanopores for desalination has led to tremendous efforts in fabrication
and commercialization. We present here a review of the very recent
patents associated with the preparation of these nanopores, the process
and the efficiency of SWD.