Researchers from the Melbourne School of Engineering at the University of Melbourne, in conjunction with Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, have developed new membranes or micro-filters that are expected to clean water in a more energy efficient manner using layer-by-layer polymer assembly.

(Read more about water desalination.)

Sandra Kentish, Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering says that up until now, there has not been a way to add chlorinating agents to water to prevent biological growth in the desalination process.

"The new membranes perform at a comparable level to existing commercial membranes used in these applications, but importantly show greater resistance to attack by chlorine containing chemicals," Kentish says.

The chlorine resistant membrane materials can cut out additional processing steps reducing operating costs, she says. They also can prevent the decrease in water flow that is observed with time due to biological fouling.

The findings were published in Advanced Materials.