Production of drinking water from saline water by air-gap membrane distillation using polyvinylidene fluoride nanofiber membrane

Polyvinylidene fluoride nanofiber membrane could be used in membrane distillation (MD) to produce drinking water (NaCl concentration <280 ppm) from a saline water of NaCl concentration 6 wt.% by air-gap membrane distillation. This was the first attempt to use electro-spun nanofiber membrane in MD. This new approach may eventually enable the MD process to compete with conventional seawater desalination processes such as distillation and reverse osmosis.