The researchers wondered if they could figure out how to capture that electrical charge as it moved across the membrane separating the fresh and salty water. They did it by creating two tiny membranes, just three atoms thick, made of molybdenum disulfide, which is plentiful and easy to produce. Then they made a tiny hole in the membranes and let osmosis take over and push the electrically charged salt ions through this nanopore.
Source: tatoeba (12240575)