Towards the realisation of high permi-selective MoS2 membrane for water desalination

Abstract

Climate change and its related side effects are generating a demand for innovative ways to enhance desalination performance by adopting cost-effective and energy-efficient membrane materials. Molybdenum disulphide (MoS2), a two-dimensional (2D) material, holds the potential to address the deficiency of the current polymeric reverse osmosis (RO) membrane by maximizing the water-energy nexus. The nanoscale thickness of the MoS2 membrane promises better water permeability benefiting from the small diffusion length of the transport of the molecules while maintaining good chemical and mechanical robustness. Although many advantages have been projected, the experimental realization of such near-atomic thickness has not been fully explored because of the technological difficulties associated with the production. This review first highlights the remarkable combination of the ion’s rejection and permeability properties of the MoS2 membrane by discussing two distinct reported approaches for using MoS2 as a membrane for water desalination. Subsequently, the engineering challenges of the MoS2 membrane scalability for water desalination are discussed. Lastly, the possible opportunities for a well-controlled fabrication process critical to achieving and advancing MoS2 membranes from research laboratories to the industrial-scale application are outlined. We aim to provide a collective understanding of the realization of a high permi-selective MoS2 membrane for water desalination.

Highly Permeable Sulfonated Polydopamine Integrated MXene Membranes for Efficient Surfactant-Stabilized Oil-in-Water Separation

“…Two-dimensional materials are contemplated as the next-generation materials for developing advanced membranes, which can offer unprecedented flux, excellent resistance to fouling, and high rejections . The 2D materials with atomic thickness have opened new ways to customize the membrane with excellent permeability and high selectivity . Thus, 2D materials are considered the future materials to replace conventional membrane materials, with endless possibilities.…”

“…18 The 2D materials with atomic thickness have opened new ways to customize the membrane with excellent permeability and high selectivity. 19 Thus, 2D materials are considered the future materials to replace conventional membrane materials, with endless possibilities. The separation efficiency of these nanobuilding blocks can be controlled by the nanochannels or nanopores of the ultrathin 2D sheets.…”

Selective Ion Transport in Two-Dimensional Ti3C2Tx Nanochannel Decorated by Crown Ether

“…To address the challenges in developing high-performance ion-selective membranes, two-dimensional (2D) nanochannels fabricated through layer-by-layer stacking of nanosheets have been developed. The primary advantage of such 2D nanochannels lies in the abundant functional groups on the nanosheet surface, which allow for precise control of both channel size and surface properties to regulate ion transport behavior. − While graphene derivatives were initially used as the building blocks for 2D layered membranes, other materials such as transition metal carbon/nitrides (MXenes), , transition-metal dichalcogenides, , MOFs, , hexagonal boron nitride, , and vermiculite , have been reported to date. Among these materials, MXenes have attracted considerable attention due to their unique physical and chemical properties.…”

Improving the Strain Control Performance of MoS2 Monolayer to Develop Flexible Electronics

“…[13][14][15] The huge research interest in MoS 2 is caused by its similar properties to graphene (the appearance of which turned the whole world of electronics [16] ) and BP (possesses a thickness-dependent direct bandgap that enables transistors with a high ON/OFF current ratio [17] ). [18] Due to its direct bandgap and high stability in ambient air, MoS 2 has a great advantage over graphene and BP [19] for several applications, including flexible sensors, [20] field-effect transistors (FET), [12,21] complementary metal-oxidesemiconductor (CMOS) inverters, [22] imaging, [23] sensing, [24] medical, [25] industrial, [26] environmental, [27] biological, [28] batteries, [29] lasers, [30] and ultrafast optical communications. [31,32] However, it is still challenging to achieve large-area MoS 2 monolayers with desired material quality and electrical properties to fulfill the requirement for practical applications.…”