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Microscopic Observation of Kinetic Molecular Sieving of Hydrogen Isotopes in a Nanoporous Material

Source: Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 085901 (2010); doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.085901

Published 19 August 2010

PACS
  • 66.30.Pa
    Diffusion in nanoscale solids
  • 28.60.+s
    Isotope separation and enrichment
  • 68.43.Jk
    Diffusion of adsorbates, kinetics of coarsening and aggregation
  • 83.10.Rs
    Computer simulation of molecular and particle dynamics in rheology
  • YEAR: 2010
PUBLICATION DATA
ISSN:
1553-9644 (online)
Publisher:
AIP is a member of CrossRef APS
T. X. Nguyen,1 H. Jobic,2 and S. K. Bhatia1
1School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
2Université Lyon 1, CNRS, UMR 5256, IRCELYON, Institut de recherches sur la catalyse et l'environnement de Lyon, 2 Avenue Albert Einstein, F-69626 Villeurbanne, France
We report quasielastic neutron scattering studies of H2-D2 diffusion in a carbon molecular sieve, demonstrating remarkable quantum effects, with the heavier isotope diffusing faster below 100 K, confirming our recent predictions. Our transition state theory and molecular dynamics calculations show that while it is critical for this effect to have narrow windows of size comparable to the de Broglie wavelength, high flux requires that the energy barrier be reduced through small cages. Such materials will enable novel processes for kinetic molecular sieving of hydrogen isotopes.
History: Received 11 May 2010; revised 24 June 2010; published 19 August 2010
Permalink: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v105/e085901
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