Osmotic Power
Wherever a river meets the sea, the difference in salt concentration between the two bodies of water stores energy. Membranes can harvest it, but the good membranes are expensive, fragile, and made from materials that persist in the environment long after the device is finished with them.
SEAM Lab builds membranes that are tough, water-rich, and compostable. The mechanical toughness comes from the same nano-pulley chemistry the lab uses in its adhesives and hydrogels: cross-links that slide along a polymer chain and share load rather than concentrating it. Selectively doping a charged network into that structure improves the power output without giving up the toughness.
The larger aim is energy technology that can be thrown on the compost heap when it wears out.
