Improving Forward Osmosis with Electric Fields

Membrane filtration is currently one of the most promising contemporary methods for water purification. Forward Osmosis in particularly, which relies on a difference in chemical potential to drive water through a selective barrier, is one area that has great promise in desalination and extraction of water from contaminated sources. Fouling, or the build up of contaminants on the membrane surface, lowers the efficiency and life time of this process, however, and is one of the major obstacles facing membrane sciences. A novel membrane cleaning technique driven by electrical fields is presented in this study