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Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes are excellent water transporters especially when their mean diameter is ~0.8nm. Interestingly this is the average mean diameter of HiPCO® Carbon Nanotubes.
A group of researchers working in China, Japan and USA have found that Carbon Nanotubes and graphene together make for a very good Desalination filter
The researchers made use of porous graphene sheets reinforced with Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes. The Nanotubes acted as a support structure for the Graphene islands. Variation in pore size led to changes in filtration capabilities [1].
At NoPo, we have been researching membranes made entirely of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes. The 0.8nm tubes allow for water to flow directly at a high velocity while surrounding tubes provide the strength required to hold up against a high pressure. It is exciting to see this area get more researcher attention. Nanotubes could be the potential black swan solution for the looming water crisis.
Reference
[1]: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/364/6445/1057