Abbr. Final report: Self-assembled molecular containers as artificial water channels: towards biomimetic desalination membranes

Technical Report · Sun Oct 05 04:00:00 EDT 2025

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/2997411· OSTI ID:2997411

Li, Yuhao ^[1]

---

1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Global water scarcity demands advances in desalination technologies that can deliver more fresh water with less energy. Current reverse osmosis membranes are fundamentally limited by a trade-off between how much water they can pass and how well they block salts. To address this challenge, we developed a bottom-up strategy to design and test artificial water channels that mimic the efficiency of biological proteins but are built from robust synthetic molecules. Over two years, we synthesized and evaluated more than twenty molecular channel candidates, including supramolecular macrocycles and nanographene pores with atomically precise structures. We showed that small chemical modifications allow direct control over pore size and chemistry, which in turn govern water permeability and salt rejection. In collaboration with university partners, we reported the first experimental demonstration of water transport through a nanographene pore, bridging a long-standing gap between simulation and experiment. Several of the artificial channels we developed achieved water–salt selectivity beyond conventional polymer membranes, highlighting their potential for next-generation desalination and precision separations.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC52-07NA27344
• OSTI ID: 2997411
• Report Number(s): LLNL--TR-2012112
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
42 ENGINEERING