A scientist from The University of Manchester has recently won a prestigious award for business proposal to develop world changing water filtration technology. Sebastian Leaper, a PhD student at the University, is the winner of the Eli and Britt Harari Graphene Enterprise Award 2016.
The GBP 50,000 award money will help to fund a new graphene project, which has the potential to revolutionise current desalination methods which are currently costly in terms of energy usage and the need for pre-treatment. Using a graphene membrane in the desalination process can help improve the process and fine-tuning its properties can overcome some of the challenges associated with desalination as it can allow water to permeate through them with hardly any resistance. Untreated water can also be used in the membrane, making it low maintenance.
Sebastian Leaper, says, âWhen you live in Manchester, it’s easy to forget that there’s a global water shortage going on. It’s crazy to think that in the 21st Century, there are still people who have to walk miles every day for such a basic commodity. Graphene has promise to unlock the door to low cost, sustainable desalination technology that can end the global water crisis.â? This technology has the potential to revolutionise water filtration across the world, in particular in countries which cannot afford large scale desalination plants.
