Nano Sun Prints 3D Membranes to Filter Water

Nano Sun is a young startup created by a team of scientists from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, who has just opened a 3D printing plant to make new membranes to filter water. These would be 5 times faster than traditional membranes made from polymer and ceramic. The startup hopes to have a significant impact on reducing water pollution.

Initiatives that combine 3D printing and ecology are becoming more numerous, with the aim of finding more environmentally friendly solutions: creation of 3D materials from waste, printing of coral reefs to preserve the oceans, reuse of waste plastics for making street furniture , etc. and the startup Nano Sun is in the frontline against water pollution.

Membranes printed in 3D to filter water

Traditionally, membranes to filter water are made from ceramic or polymer and acids that impart this porous appearance to filters. The manufacturing process can consist of 13 steps; to avoid this, Nano Sun has turned to additive manufacturing: it prints nano-fibre layers in one go which, when they are superimposed, compress into a thin membrane.