Adsorption separation of heavier isotope gases in subnanometer carbon pores

Sanjeev Kumar Ujjain, Abhishek Bagusetty, Yuki Matsuda, Hideki Tanaka, Preety Ahuja, Carla Tomas, Motomu Sakai, Fernando Vallejos-Burgos, Ryusuke Futamura, Irene Suarez-Martinez, Masahiko Matsukata, Akio Kodama, Giovanni Garberoglio, Yury Gogotsi, J. Karl Johnson and Katsumi Kaneko ()
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Sanjeev Kumar Ujjain: Shinshu University
Abhishek Bagusetty: University of Pittsburgh
Yuki Matsuda: Institute of Science and Engineering, Kanazawa University
Hideki Tanaka: Shinshu University
Preety Ahuja: Shinshu University
Carla Tomas: Curtin University
Motomu Sakai: Waseda University
Fernando Vallejos-Burgos: Shinshu University
Ryusuke Futamura: Shinshu University
Irene Suarez-Martinez: Curtin University
Masahiko Matsukata: Waseda University
Akio Kodama: Institute of Science and Engineering, Kanazawa University
Giovanni Garberoglio: European Centre for Theoretical Studies in Nuclear Physics and Related Areas (FBK-ECT*)
Yury Gogotsi: Shinshu University
J. Karl Johnson: University of Pittsburgh
Katsumi Kaneko: Shinshu University

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Isotopes of heavier gases including carbon (13C/14C), nitrogen (13N), and oxygen (18O) are highly important because they can be substituted for naturally occurring atoms without significantly perturbing the biochemical properties of the radiolabelled parent molecules. These labelled molecules are employed in clinical radiopharmaceuticals, in studies of brain disease and as imaging probes for advanced medical imaging techniques such as positron-emission tomography (PET). Established distillation-based isotope gas separation methods have a separation factor (S) below 1.05 and incur very high operating costs due to high energy consumption and long processing times, highlighting the need for new separation technologies. Here, we show a rapid and highly selective adsorption-based separation of 18O2 from 16O2 with S above 60 using nanoporous adsorbents operating near the boiling point of methane (112 K), which is accessible through cryogenic liquefied-natural-gas technology. A collective-nuclear-quantum effect difference between the ordered 18O2 and 16O2 molecular assemblies confined in subnanometer pores can explain the observed equilibrium separation and is applicable to other isotopic gases.

Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-20744-6

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20744-6

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