Plasmonic nanoheating for versatile water purification membranes

Qimao Gan, Wenyu Liu, Qian Xiao, Zhe Yang, Hao Guo (), Menachem Elimelech () and Chuyang Y. Tang ()
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Qimao Gan: The University of Hong Kong
Wenyu Liu: The University of Hong Kong
Qian Xiao: The University of Hong Kong
Zhe Yang: The University of Hong Kong
Hao Guo: The University of Hong Kong
Menachem Elimelech: Yale University
Chuyang Y. Tang: The University of Hong Kong

Nature Sustainability, 2025, vol. 8, issue 10, 1190-1198

Abstract: Abstract Global water scarcity motivates sustainable clean water production from non-traditional water sources. While existing reverse osmosis (RO) membranes dominate seawater desalination, they are far from ideal for purifying diverse water sources due to inadequate removal of various low-molecular-weight contaminants. Here we overcome this limitation by developing ultraselective polyamide RO membranes via in situ interfacial plasmonic nanoheating integrated interfacial polymerization (IP). The rapid localized heating at the nano-interface of IP boosts the reactivity of monomers, improves the local mass transfer of amine monomers, and facilitates interfacial degassing/vaporization. Consequently, the resultant RO membrane, featuring highly crosslinked polyamide with extensive internal nanovoids, exhibits superior removal for a wide spectrum of toxic and hard-to-remove contaminants found in different water sources, revealing transformative potential for various water treatment scenarios. It also shows a transcendent desalination performance (water permeance of 3.4 l m−2 h−1 bar−1 and NaCl rejection of 99.7%), which further enables efficient desalination of natural seawater for high-quality freshwater, indicating great promise for practical applications. Our study opens a route to develop high-performance RO membranes for effectively purifying diverse water sources towards sustainable clean water production.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41893-025-01636-3

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