Pervaporation for Desalination: Principles, Membranes, Processes, Applications and Future Directions

This chapter focuses on pervaporation (PV) as a promising membrane-based separation technology for seawater and brackish water desalination. It introduces the fundamental principles of PV, explaining the transport mechanism and the unique phase-change-driven separation that achieves near-complete salt rejection. The chapter explores the design and development of hydrophobic and nanostructured membranes (polymeric, ceramic, graphene-based) that enable selective water vapor transport while resisting fouling and scaling. Key process configurations and performance optimization strategies are discussed, along with comparisons to conventional desalination methods such as reverse osmosis and distillation. Real-world and pilot-scale applications are examined to demonstrate PV’s potential in decentralized and energy-efficient water treatment. Finally, the chapter reviews emerging trends in solar-driven PV, hybrid desalination systems, and future research directions to advance this sustainable technology toward large-scale implementation.