Osmotic Power Systems

Osmotic power, or blue energy, harnesses the chemical potential difference between saline and fresh water to generate clean energy, either in the form of electricity or hydrogen. With the growing need for renewable energy, osmotic power systems offer promising solutions by utilizing abundant resources such as river mouths, desalination brines, and wastewater streams. Innovations in materials, device architectures, and understanding of transport phenomena continue to drive progress in this emerging field.

Frontiers in Chemical Engineering is a contributor to the Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025 launched at the WEF Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin in June 2025. This Research Topic highlights one of the featured technologies and aims to foster community collaboration around its development and impact.

The goal of this Research Topic is to showcase the latest research and innovations in osmotic power systems, advancing both fundamental science and practical applications. We aim to address key challenges in system efficiency, material durability, cost, and large-scale feasibility, and to encourage multidisciplinary approaches that bring osmotic power closer to deployment.

We welcome research articles and reviews covering the fields of salinity gradient energy. Focus on research like electrodes, electrolytes, membranes, transport phenomena, and economics are welcomed. Experimental as well as numerical approaches are welcomed. Key themes include, but are not limited to:
• Electrode, electrolyte, and membrane design
• Novel materials and device concepts
• Transport phenomena and modeling
• System integration and operational strategies
• Economic analyses and life-cycle assessments

Contributions spanning experiments, theory, and simulations are encouraged. By fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration, this collection seeks to illuminate breakthroughs that accelerate the real-world adoption of osmotic power systems.