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March 19, 2009

IBM's Silicon Chip Material Science to Treat Water


While more and more companies these days are picking up their green efforts by making contributions to environmental areas some are working much harder at aiding the environment.
International Business Machines (better known as IBM (News - Alert)) is well known for its contributions to technologies such as hardware, software, silicon chip and nano, and products like servers, blades and mainframes.



However, the company is now also contributing its own twenty-five year old, finely tuned and advanced, silicon chip material science and nano technology for futuristic water treatment.
The nano membrane is made from fluorine materials that bond with water on contact and allow it to flow freely. Scientists call this state the water superhighway. However, when impurities such as arsenic and salt come in contact with the same membrane, a highly acidic reaction takes place that results in impurity ionization and hence repulsion or separation.

Besides contributing the technology, it is also taking an active part in the global collaborative effort with Central Glass (CG) of Japan and King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) of Saudi Arabia to remove impurities from water to make it potable.
Recently IBM, CG and KACST showcased a new nano membrane technology that separates salt, arsenic and other impurities from water without getting choked and degraded as fast as other existing technologies.
IBM RnD scientists have a threefold continuous improvement project to create energy efficient nano membranes based on the chemistry of semiconductor chips: improve existing desalination membranes, study nano structured polymers for nano membranes, and improve the current nano membrane separation process to eliminate clogging by organisms and organic materials.
"As clean water becomes more scarce and disease from impure water impacts more of the world's population, the race to find efficient methods to purify this important resource is at a critical juncture," said Bob Allen, manager of the water purification project at the IBM Almaden Research Center.
"The kind of research we're doing, and the promising results we're seeing, stand to create a whole new paradigm for how we manage natural resources such as water."

Vivek Naik is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Vivek's articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Stefania Viscusi




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