AKIPRESS.COM - Scientists have created a graphene-based sieve capable of making seawater drinkable.

The development by UK-based researchers brings closer the prospect of providing clean water to millions of people who struggle to gain access, Metro reported.

The team at the University of Manchester, where colleagues won a Nobel Prize in 2010 for first extracting graphene, have managed to precisely control the sizes of pores in a graphene oxide sieve.

The discovery allows them to filter out salts from water to make it safe to drink, they announced in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

With man-made climate change reducing cities’ water supplies, countries have been increasingly investing in ‘desalination’ technologies.

The UN has predicted that around 1.2 billion people, or 14 per cent of the world’s population, will experience difficulties sourcing clean water by 2025.