{"id":638137,"date":"2025-12-17T12:50:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T12:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/638137\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T12:50:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T12:50:14","slug":"manchester-graphene-startup-wins-global-water-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/638137\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester graphene startup wins global water prize"},"content":{"rendered":"

A pioneering graphene-based technology developed at The University of Manchester has won a major international award for tackling global water challenges.\u00a0Hollowgraf\u00a0Ltd<\/a>, a\u00a0startup\u00a0from the\u00a0National Graphene Institute<\/strong><\/a>, has been named a winner of the Global Prize for Innovation in Water (GPIW) 2025, launched by the Saudi Water Authority to celebrate breakthroughs in sustainable water solutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The GPIW is an international initiative that recognises pioneering contributions to water desalination and celebrates innovators driving progress towards sustainable global water solutions. Winning this award places\u00a0Hollowgraf\u00a0Ltd among the most influential emerging innovators in the global water sector.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hollowgraf\u00a0originates from the graphene membrane research group led by\u00a0Professor Rahul Raveendran Nair<\/strong><\/a>, internationally recognised for its work on graphene-based membranes for separation and filtration. Building on this foundation, the team has filed a patent for an innovative desalination and value-recovery process powered by atmospheric CO\u2082 or flue gas. To accelerate real-world deployment, the team established\u00a0Hollowgraf\u00a0Ltd to commercialise the technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With water scarcity affecting billions worldwide,\u00a0Hollowgraf\u2019s\u00a0technology offers a radical\u00a0new approach: turning seawater into drinking water using carbon dioxide and advanced graphene membranes. This innovation could transform desalination into a near-zero-waste process. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Hollowgraf\u00a0stood out among 2,570 entries from 119 countries, securing $50,000 in prize money and $250,000 in prototype and piloting support,\u00a0fuelling the next stage of development and scale-up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis recognition is a huge step toward turning\u00a0cutting-edge\u00a0graphene research into real-world solutions for water scarcity. With this support, we can move from the lab to large-scale pilot projects in partnership with the Saudi Water Authority,\u201d said\u00a0Dr. Premlal Pillai<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Research Fellow\u00a0at the National Graphene Institute and\u00a0CEO of\u00a0Hollowgraf\u00a0Ltd.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prof.\u00a0Rahul Raveendran Nair, Professor\u00a0and Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair\u00a0at The University of Manchester and CTO of\u00a0Hollowgraf\u00a0Ltd, said:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis award highlights our commitment to turning world-class research into solutions for global challenges.\u00a0Hollowgraf\u2019s\u00a0breakthrough could redefine sustainable desalination, and\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0proud to see Manchester innovation recognised worldwide.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The patent-pending process, developed at The University of Manchester,\u00a0uses graphene membranes and carbon dioxide to produce clean water and valuable by-products, all at ambient pressure\u00a0thus\u00a0making it more sustainable and cost-effective than traditional methods.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This achievement reinforces The University of Manchester\u2019s position as a global leader in graphene innovation and sustainability,\u00a0making a tangible impact on one of the world\u2019s most pressing challenges.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The National Graphene Institute (NGI) <\/a>is a world-leading graphene and 2D material centre, focussed on fundamental research. Based at The University of Manchester, where graphene was first isolated in 2004 by Professors Sir Andre Geim and Sir Kostya Novoselov, it is home to leaders in their field \u2013 a community of research specialists delivering transformative discovery. This expertise is matched by \u00a313m leading-edge facilities, such as the largest class 5 and 6 cleanrooms in global academia, which gives the NGI the capabilities to advance underpinning industrial applications in key areas including: composites, functional membranes, energy, membranes for green hydrogen, ultra-high vacuum 2D materials, nanomedicine, 2D based printed electronics, and characterisation.<\/p>\n

‘;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A pioneering graphene-based technology developed at The University of Manchester has won a major international award for tackling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":638138,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[24005,748,393,40158,4884,2774,2465,196678,2343,196679,70,79906,16,15,29191],"class_list":{"0":"post-638137","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-2d-materials","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-graphene","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-headline","14":"tag-manchester","15":"tag-national-graphene-institute","16":"tag-research","17":"tag-research-beacons","18":"tag-science","19":"tag-science-and-engineering","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom","22":"tag-university-of-manchester"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115734998353326435","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}