Sustainable Water Purification

Newly developed phase-engineered and low dimensional materials have opened the door to the design of materials structures that exhibit extremely efficient ionic transport. Recently, a new type of electro-filtration system designed to convert thermal power into purified water from salt water (or other ionic pollutants) has been demonstrated in the lab. The system is based on a bi-phasic nanoplatelette form of the compound MoS2 (Molybdenum disulphide). Specifically engineering a single film of hexagonal MoS2 that transitions into tetragonal MoS2, one of which is hydrophobic and one strongly hydrophilic, liquids such as water can be moved through the film. When this film is placed in a thermal gradient, a thermoelectric voltage is established that can be used to thereby remove ions within the water as it exits the material system. So the entire system is powered through the Seebeck effect and for small samples this has been shown. In this program we will attempt to demonstrate a scaleup of the concept using a small canister the size of a writing pen. When one end is dipped into the water the thermal gradient between that end and the one in air, caused by differences in the convectivity, will power the exchange of ions and purify the water for drinking. Streamline Automation will work in collaboration with its academic partners at Wake Forest University on this project.

One of the primary stated purposes driving NASA's development of the SLS is to enable manned missions beyond low Earth orbit. These may include: * Short duration missions to the Moon, * Long duration missions on the Moon, * Asteroid recovery missions, and * Missions to Mars. Most of these will require mission durations of several months to 2 years. Water recovery and reprocessing will be crucial to the success of these missions. Operation on waste heat would allow purified water to be produced without adding to the spacecraft power budget.

Salt water covers about 70% of the planet's surface, although fresh water is necessary for human consumption. Civilizations have fallen due to supplies of fresh water drying up or running out, and shifting weather patterns make the potential for sustained drought a greater possibility. California is in the midst of a sustained drought that is threatening water supplies and crop land. Efficient desalination that operates using existing low grade heat sources has applications over a range of scales: * Producing potable water for individual hikers and backpackers. * As one element of a family emergency kit in the event of natural disaster. * Part of a water recycling system to support commercial space tourism. * New technology for large-scale desalination to address persistent drought conditions.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.