Balancing in-plane pores and interlayer channels of porous MXene nanosheet membranes for scalable hydrogen purification.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41238554.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-64942-6 and PMC identifier 12618651.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC-ND.
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Abstract
Two-dimensional (2D) nanosheet membranes exhibit promising H<sub>2</sub> purification due to their atomic thickness. However, the synergistic interplay between in-plane pores and interlayer spacing on gas transport in 2D membrane has never been studied. Here, we engineer porous MXene nanosheets with artificially controllable in-plane pore to construct membranes with precise interlayer spacing, balancing the two types of channels for promising H<sub>2</sub>/CO<sub>2</sub> separation. Optimal porous-MXene nanosheet membranes achieve a threefold increase in H<sub>2</sub> permeance (1335 GPU) over nonporous-MXene nanosheet membranes (419 GPU) with comparable H<sub>2</sub>/CO<sub>2</sub> selectivity (118). Theory and experiment demonstrate that the larger in-plane pores provide fast mass transfer channels enhancing H<sub>2</sub> permeance, while smaller interlayer spacings as effective sieving channels govern selectivity. The Raman mapping visualizes H<sub>2</sub> transport through in-plane pores. Manufacturing of meter-scale membranes underscores industrial viability. This work establishes universal design principles in high-performance 2D nanosheet membranes for separation, adsorption and catalysis.