Liposome-Coated Nanopores Boost Osmotic Blue Energy

EPFL researchers coat nanopores with lipid bilayers to create liposome-coated channels that dramatically reduce friction and enable faster, more selective ion transport for osmotic (blue) energy. In 1,000 coated nanopores arranged in a hex pattern, they achieved about 15 W per square meter of power density—roughly 2–3 times higher than current polymer-membrane systems—pointing to a scalable nanofluidic approach with potential applications beyond blue energy.