The teaching assistant at the College of Engineering, Department of Environmental Engineering – College of Engineering – Prof. Dr. Zainab Ziad Ismail, and doctoral student Ahmed Mustafa Sadiq obtained an American patent for their work entitled: “Innovative application of self-adhesive wallpaper waste material as a novel separator to replace expensive membrane in a photosynthesis microbial desalination cell.” The patent has been registered with the US Patent Office (USPTO).
This invention concerns the field of environmental bioelectrochemical technologies, particularly the modification and optimization of a microbial desalination cell for photosynthesis.
The invention involves the innovative use of self-adhesive polyethylene foam (PEFSW) wall panel waste materials that have no economic value as a new active membrane to replace the high-cost cation and anionic exchange membranes in the photosynthetic microbial desalination cell used to treat and recover wastewater, desalinate seawater and generate renewable energy simultaneously and in one system.