Graphene-Enhanced Desalination Membrane Advances to XPRIZE Water Scarcity Semifinals
13 May 2026
Clean TeQ Water (ASX: CNQ), NematiQ and Monash University have advanced as a Semifinalist team in XPRIZE Water Scarcity – the US$119 million, five-year global competition to revolutionise seawater desalination. Competing as the Graphene Enhanced Reverse Osmosis (GE-RO) team, the partnership is one of 17 Track B Semifinalists selected from a global field representing nine countries.
XPRIZE Water Scarcity is designed to drive widespread access to clean water by creating reliable, sustainable and affordable seawater desalination systems. The competition is divided into two technical tracks: Track A focuses on system-level desalination innovations, while Track B targets novel materials and methods for the membranes themselves. Track B specifically seeks direct replacements for, or transformative enhancements to, conventional seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) membranes, with a minimum operational lifetime of 10 years or more.
The GE-RO platform applies a nanoscale Graphene Membrane coating to commercial thin-film composite SWRO substrates using the team’s proprietary shear-alignment process. During Qualified Teams Testing, the team successfully coated and validated the GE-RO process on conventional DuPont FilmTec and Hydranautics seawater reverse osmosis substrates, demonstrating platform compatibility across two of the most widely deployed commercial SWRO membrane families.
GE-RO finished with 99.6% salt rejection and no decline in flux after completing the full accelerated durability protocol: six sequential stress blocks (thermal, pH, scaling, mechanical, biofouling and oxidant exposure) designed to simulate multi-year operational conditions. Product water following the protocol met World Health Organization drinking water guidelines in full; an uncoated control membrane subjected to the same conditions did not.
Graphene-Enhanced Reverse Osmosis (GE-RO)
GE-RO is engineered as a drop-in upgrade for existing SWRO plants. The coated membranes fit standard 4040 and 8040 pressure vessels and operate within normal SWRO pressure ranges, allowing adoption without modification to plant infrastructure. Early testing indicates the hydrophilic, low-roughness graphene oxide surface resists organic fouling, biofilm initiation and CaCO3 scaling. These are the three mechanisms that drive cleaning frequency and progressive flux decline in conventional polyamide membranes. In dedicated antifouling testing, GE-RO exhibited a flux decline of 17.8% compared with 23.9% for the standard RO control, and recovered 87.6% of its initial flux after a simple DI water rinse, compared with 72.5% for the control.
Professor Mainak Majumder of Monash University, who leads the academic research underpinning the platform and directs the ARC Research Hub for Advanced Manufacturing with 2D Materials (AM2D), said the Semifinalist outcome reflected the technology’s progression from laboratory science to industrial-scale application.
The GE-RO team builds on commercial-scale manufacturing experience with the Graphene Enhanced Ultrafiltration (GE-UF) platform, which NematiQ already produces in 4040 and 8040 module formats. Early field trials have also been completed for a PFAS-selective variant of the GE-UF membrane. The next stage of work is expected to involve producing 1812-sized spiral-wound modules on the team’s roll-to-roll demonstration coating line in Melbourne, with side-by-side module testing against conventional SWRO membranes to follow.
The team will now progress to Semifinals testing, where up to five teams will advance from the 17 Track B Semifinalists to the Finals. The Semifinals stage assesses the safety, performance, sustainability and scalability of novel materials and methods, with teams submitting Life Cycle Analysis, Safety Data Sheets and a scalability plan. Track B Semifinals testing is scheduled for Q3 2026, with finalist teams announced in Q4 2026.