Ultrathin, Molecular-Sieving Graphene Oxide Membranes for Selective Hydrogen Separation

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 342; no. 6154; pp. 95 - 98
• Main Authors: Li, Hang, Song, Zhuonan, Zhang, Xiaojie, Huang, Yi, Li, Shiguang, Mao, Yating, Ploehn, Harry J., Bao, Yu, Yu, Miao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 04.10.2013; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Adsorption; Applied sciences; Carbon dioxide; Channels; Chemical engineering; Diffusion; Exact sciences and technology; Filtration; Gases; Graphene; graphene oxide; Hydrogen; Materials science; Membrane separation (reverse osmosis, dialysis...); Membranes; Micropores; Molecules; nitrogen; Oxides; P branes; permeability; Pore size; Porosity; Solvents; String theory; Ultrathin films; Aluminium oxide; Gas permeability; Hydrogen; Morphology; Carbon dioxide; Selective permeability; Membrane; Manufacturing; Nitrogen; Experimental study
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1236686

Ultrathin, molecular-sieving membranes have great potential to realize high-flux, high-selectivity mixture separation at low energy cost. Current microporous membranes [pore size < 1 nanometer (nm)], however, are usually relatively thick. With the use of current membrane materials and techniques, it is difficult to prepare microporous membranes thinner than 20 nm without introducing extra defects. Here, we report ultrathin graphene oxide (GO) membranes, with thickness approaching 1.8 nm, prepared by a facile filtration process. These membranes showed mixture separation selectivities as high as 3400 and 900 for H₂/CO₂ and H₂/N₂ mixtures, respectively, through selective structural defects on GO.