Review of piezodialysis - salt removal with charge mosaic membranes

Piezodialysis (PD) is a process that removes the salt from the water, rather than the other way around as in reverse osmosis (RO). It is not a new process, its long history being one of slow improvement, and its performance not yet near the predictions of 40 or more years ago. Adequate desalting of brackish water has been achieved by PD, but at yields far below acceptable. Some recent publications offering new angles warrant a disinterring of the earlier information. Imperfect membranes are the probable reason for poor performance, the production of the ideal structure representing a challenge for nanoparticle and polymer scientists. Crown Copyright (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.