The relative insignificance of advanced materials in enhancing the energy efficiency of desalination technologies

As the threat of global water scarcity continues to grow, a myriad of scientific effort is directed towards advancing water desalination technologies. Reverse osmosis (RO), solar thermal desalination (STD), and capacitive deionization (CDI), have dominated recent pressure-, thermal-, and electro-driven desalination research efforts, respectively. Despite being based on distinctive driving forces and separation mechanisms, research of these three processes has primarily shared the same fundamental goal and approach: the minimization of energy consumption for desalination through the development of novel materials. A variety of materials have been studied and proposed to enhance RO membrane permeability, STD solar absorptivity, and CDI electrode capacitance. Here, we critically discuss the advanced materials investigated and assess their efficacy in augmenting the energy efficiency of desalination. Through our systematic analysis, we show that materials have relatively insignificant impact on further increasing energy efficiency, regardless of the process applied. We provide insights into the inherent limitations of advanced materials for improving the energy efficiency of each of the evaluated technologies and propose more effective materials-based research directions. We conclude by highlighting the opportunity for considerable improvement in energy efficiency via system design, reinforcing the critical need for a paradigm shift in desalination research.