Monolayer Fullerene Membranes for Hydrogen Separation.

Tong, Yujing; Liu, Hongjun; Dai, Sheng; Jiang, De-En · Nano Lett · 2023

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Hydrogen separation membranes are a critical component in the emerging hydrogen economy, offering an energy-efficient solution for the purification and production of hydrogen gas. Inspired by the recent discovery of monolayer covalent fullerene networks, here we show from concentration-gradient-driven molecular dynamics that quasi-square-latticed monolayer fullerene membranes provide the best pore size match, a unique funnel-shaped pore, and entropic selectivity. The integration of these attributes renders these membranes promising for separating H<sub>2</sub> from larger gases such as CO<sub>2</sub> and O<sub>2</sub>. The ultrathin membranes exhibit excellent hydrogen permeance as well as high selectivity for H<sub>2</sub>/CO<sub>2</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>/O<sub>2</sub> separations, surpassing the 2008 Robeson upper bounds by a large margin. The present work points toward a promising direction of using monolayer fullerene networks as membranes for high-permeance, selective hydrogen separation for processes such as water splitting.