Osmosis can be controlled reversibly and effectively by mild temperature changes based on novel thermosensitive solutes with LCST transition. The nBu-TAEA thermosensitive solution can draw fresh water from seawater at temperatures less than the phase separation temperature, and the osmotic flow was reversed at higher temperatures.
Lower critical solution temperature (LCST) phase transition of glycol ether (GE)-water mixtures induces an abrupt change in osmotic pressure driven by a mild temperature change. The temperature-controlled osmotic change was applied for the forward osmosis (FO) desalination. Among three GEs evaluated, di(ethylene glycol) n-hexyl ether (DEH) was selected as a potential FO draw solute. A DEH-water mixture with a high osmotic pressure could draw fresh water from a high-salt feed solution such as seawater through a semipermeable membrane at around 10 °C. The water-drawn DEH-water mixture was phase-separated into a water-rich phase and a DEH-rich phase at around 30 °C. The water-rich phase with a much reduced osmotic pressure released water into a low-salt solution, and the DEH-rich phase was recovered into the initial DEH-water mixture. The phase separation behaviour, the residual GE concentration in the water-rich phase, the osmotic pressure of the DEH-water mixture, and the osmotic flux between the DEH-water mixture and salt solutions were carefully analysed for FO desalination. The liquid-liquid phase separation of the GE-water mixture driven by the mild temperature change between 10 °C and 30 °C is very attractive for the development of an ideal draw solute for future practical FO desalination.
The upper critical solution temperature (UCST) phase transition of halide salts of branched polyethylenimine (PEI) and methylated branched polyethylenimine (MPEI) is first reported in aqueous solutions. In particular, iodide counter-ions can introduce UCST properties in MPEI. The importance of the counter-ion composition of MPEI for UCST transition is discussed in detail.
Abrupt changes in effective concentration and osmotic pressure of lower critical solution temperature (LCST) mixtures facilitate the design of a continuous desalination method driven by a mild temperature gradient. We propose a prototype desalination system by circulating LCST mixtures between low and high temperature (low T and high T) units. Water molecules could be drawn from a high-salt solution to the LCST mixture through a semipermeable membrane at a temperature lower than the phase transition temperature, at which the effective osmotic pressure of the LCST mixture is higher than the high-salt solution. After transfer of water to the high T unit where the LCST mixture is phase-separated, the water-rich phase could release the drawn water into a well-diluted solution through the second membrane due to the significant decrease in effective concentration. The solute-rich phase could be recovered in the low T unit via a circulation process. The molar mass, phase transition temperature, and aqueous solubility of the LCST solute could be tuneable for the circulatory osmotic desalination system in which drawing, transfer, release of water, and the separation and recovery of the solutes could proceed simultaneously. Development of a practical desalination system that draws water molecules directly from seawater and produces low-salt water with high purity by mild temperature gradients, possibly induced by sunlight or waste heat, could be attainable by a careful design of the molecular structure and combination of the circulatory desalination systems based on low- and high-molar-mass LCST draw solutes.
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