China successfully developed the world's thinnest molecular sieve membrane

On December 12, from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, it was learned that the research team led by Prof. Yang Weishen and researcher Li Yushuo succeeded in preparing a molecular sieve membrane composed of 1 nanometer-thick nanosheets. One thousandth of the thickness, and with a regular-shaped channel like a sieve, can accurately screen hydrogen and carbon dioxide molecules with a size difference of only 0.04 nanometers.

The permeation flux and separation selectivity of the nanosheet zeolite membrane far exceeds all current hydrogen and carbon dioxide separation membranes. The research results have been evaluated by Prof. Lin Yuesheng, an inorganic membrane scientist in the United States, Prof. Carol, a molecular sieve catalyst and membrane catalyst scientist in Germany, and by the Japan Membrane Association and Microporous Membrane Scientists as “Developing a New Generation of Molecular Sieve Membrane”.

The separation of hydrogen and carbon dioxide is a key step in the clean energy and carbon dioxide capture. The use of selective membrane materials to achieve the separation of the two at the molecular level has long been a hot and difficult issue for long-term global research. Conventional membrane materials have a trade-off between permeate flux and separation selectivity. How to increase the permeation flux and separation selectivity of the separation membrane at the same time is a challenge to scientists in various countries.

Professor Yang Weishen said that the key to improving the permeation flux of the separation membrane is to effectively reduce the membrane thickness. The key to improving selectivity of the separation membrane is to build a molecular-scale pore in the membrane. Therefore, molecular sieve nanosheets are the ideal high-performance separation membrane construction motifs.

It is reported that the thickness of the conventional molecular sieve membrane is more than 10 times the thickness of the flap.