Our collaborative feature review titled “Solvent-driven aqueous separations for hypersaline brine concentration and resource recovery” has been published in Trends in Chemistry.
Solvent-driven water extraction selectively solvates water over salt through directional solubility, thereby achieving desalination by extracting water into the solvent and retaining inorganic salts in the aqueous stream. Solvent-driven fractional crystallization employs a water-miscible solvent to induce solute saturation and, subsequently, precipitation in aqueous salt solutions. The article critically examines the opportunities presented by solvent-based aqueous separations from the molecular- to process-scale and evaluates the chemistry of solvation and system design in the broader context of desalination, resource recovery, water softening, and mineral production.
