Ion Concentration Polarisation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers have developed a portable desalination unit, weighing less than 10 kg, that can remove particles and salts to generate drinking water.
- This device utilises electrical power to remove particles from drinking water.
- The unit relies on a technique called ion concentration polarisation.
- Rather than filtering water, the process applies an electrical field that causes positively or negatively charged particles — including salt molecules, bacteria, viruses — to be repelled as they flow past.
- The charged particles are funnelled into a second stream of water that is eventually discharged.
- The process removes solids, allowing clean water to pass through the channel.
