Chlorine-resistant membrane with stable mixed-salt rejection
This technology is a new class of synthetic polymer membranes designed to filter salt out of water — essentially a next-generation desalination membrane. The polymers are built with chemical groups that selectively block dissolved salts like sodium chloride from passing through while letting water flow freely. A key differentiator is that these membranes maintain high rejection of common monovalent salts (like table salt) even when the water also contains heavier, multivalent salts like calcium or magnesium — a real-world condition that causes conventional membranes to underperform. The materials are also engineered to resist degradation by chlorine, which is widely used in water treatment systems and is a known killer of competing membrane materials.
What you could build
A drop-in replacement membrane material for nanofiltration or reverse osmosis modules used in municipal water treatment, industrial water reuse, and brackish water desalination plants; primary buyers would be membrane manufacturers like DuPont Water Solutions, Toray, or Koch Separation Solutions looking to upgrade their product lines.
Who in Virginia should care
Virginia has growing water infrastructure investment and military base water treatment needs (notably at naval facilities in Hampton Roads); membrane manufacturers or water technology integrators with Mid-Atlantic operations would be plausible licensees.
Readiness: Lab validated
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Judy S. Riffle, Ozma R. Lane, Amin Daryaei, Shreya Roy-Choudhury, Benny D. Freeman, Eui Soung Jang, Gurtej S. Narang, John J. Lesko, Trevor Schumacher
- Granted
- December 13, 2022
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 11525034
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.