Graphene-Based Desalination Membrane AquaGraph Enters Mass Production: Filtration Speed 10x That of Traditional Reverse Osmosis

On June 30, 2029, UK-based University of Manchester spinoff AquaGraph announced the official mass production of its graphene-based desalination membrane at its new Liverpool factory. The membrane achieves a water filtration flux of 120 liters per square meter per hour — 10 times that of traditional polyamide reverse osmosis (RO) membranes — while reducing energy consumption by 60%.

AquaGraph's core technology is "precision nanopore graphene" — using plasma etching to create precisely 0.8nm pores in single-layer graphene, allowing water molecules to pass while rejecting salt ions and contaminants. Unlike traditional RO membranes driven by high pressure, AquaGraph membranes achieve efficient desalination at just 3 atmospheres of pressure.

The Liverpool factory has an annual capacity of 500,000 square meters of membrane material, sufficient to supply a desalination plant producing 100,000 tons of freshwater daily. AquaGraph CEO Rachel Green said the company has signed supply agreements with desalination projects in Saudi Arabia and Israel.

A University of Manchester Graphene Institute director noted that the biggest challenge in mass production was large-area defect-free graphene film transfer, with the team spending three years to improve yield from 12% to 89%.