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Biological Inspiration of Salt Exclusion Membranes in Mangroves toward Fouling‐Resistant Reverse Osmosis Membranes

Developing fouling‐resistant membranes for reverse osmosis (RO) seawater desalination would provide many advantages for reducing energy consumption. As a potential avenue to inspire such membranes we are studying mangrove trees. Mangrove trees inspire a membrane‐based approach due to their natural desalination of untreated seawater in a process similar to RO. We have focused on biological mimetic systems and are identifying the locations in mangroves where salt exclusion occurs when intact stem‐and‐root complexes are used as a semipermeable membrane in an RO system. We have developed an RO system capable of sealing and testing intact stem‐and‐root complexes and individual root tissue (i.e. – root epidermis) at pressures up to 50 atm and 20 atm, respectively. Using our custom fabricated systems we have extruded xylem sap from mangroves and confirmed that they are naturally desalinating a saline growth solution. We are continuing to investigate our RO systems to enable us to identify the salt exclusion regions in mangroves and investigate potential fouling resistance in these tissues. This work will have impact in a diversity of fields including biologically inspired approaches to membrane processes, plant biology, and material science.