Electrospun nanofibrous membranes for desalination

Facing the growing freshwater scarcity in the 21st century, focused scientific and technological efforts are required to address this grand challenge. A new format of high-flux desalination membranes based on electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds can provide significant energy-saving benefits. Specifically, for reverse osmosis (RO) operations, the formation of nanocomposite barrier layer, containing directed water channels, can overcome the lower permeability limitation of conventional RO membranes. For forward osmosis (FO) and membrane distillation (MD) operations, the highly porous nanofibrous structure also enables much higher flux. In this chapter, we review the current advances of this new class of nanofibrous membranes based on electrospinning technology and its advantages over conventional polymeric membranes.