Future Trends of OSW Membrane Research

The development of reverse osmosis as a process for desalting brackish and seawater originated with the research of Reid and Breton at the University of Florida in 1954–1956. These investigators showed that cellulose acetate film is capable of separating salt from water by reverse osmosis, although at a very slow rate. Soon after this, Loeb and Sourirajan at the University of California developed a unique process for making an asymmetric or “skinned” cellulose acetate membrane. The water flux and salt rejection of this membrane were sufficiently high to make the reverse osmosis process an attractive candidate for desalination. Just ten years later, small capacity commercial reverse osmosis units were available to the public.