2D Nitrogen‐Doped Graphene Materials for Noble Gas Separation
Noble gases, notably xenon, play a pivotal role in diverse high-tech applications. However, manufacturing xenon is an inherently challenging task, due to its unique properties and trace abundance in the Earth's atmosphere. Consequently, there is a pressing need for the development of efficient methods for the separation of noble gases. Using mild fluorographene chemistry, nitrogen-doped graphene (GNs) materials are synthesized with abundant aromatic regions and extensive nitrogen doping within the vacancies and holes of the aromatic lattice. Due to the organized interlayer "nanochannels", nitrogen functional groups, and defects within the two-dimensional (2D) structures, GNs exhibits effective selectivity for Xe over Kr at low pressure. This enhanced selectivity is attributed to the stronger binding affinity of Xe to GN compared to Kr. The adsorption is governed by London dispersion forces, as revealed by theoretical calculations using symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (SAPT). Investigation of other GNs differing in nitrogen content, surface area, and pore sizes underscores the significance of nitrogen functional groups, defects, and interlayer nanochannels over the surface area in achieving superior selectivity. This work offers a new perspective on the design and fabrication of functionalized graphene derivatives, exhibiting superior noble gas storage and separation activity exploitable in gas production technologies.
Authors
- Gobbilla Sai Kumar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8281-1613)
- Praveen K. Thallapally (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7814-4467)
- Veronika Šedajová (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1635-1206)
- Giorgio Zoppellaro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2304-2564)
- Michal Otyepka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1066-5677)
- Radek Zbořil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3147-2196)
- Zdeňěk Baďura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2330-2012)
- Kolleboyina Jayaramulu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4923-5065)
- James V. Haag (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5289-9930)
- Lili Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9595-4303)
- Min‐Bum Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8128-9410)
- Robert Langer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1703-6707)
Institutions
- VSB - Technical University of Ostrava (CZ)
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (US)
- Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials (CZ)
- Indian Institute of Technology Jammu (IN)
- Palacký University Olomouc (CZ)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Small
- Published
- 2024-11-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202408525
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Membrane Separation and Gas Transport
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.85
Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Battelle
- European Commission
- Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India
- Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst
- Ministerstvo Školství, Mládeže a Tělovýchovy
- Ministerstvo Průmyslu a Obchodu
- Office of Science
- European Research Council
- Human Resource Development Group
- Science and Engineering Research Board
- Horizon 2020
- European Regional Development Fund
- Division of Materials Research
- Basic Energy Sciences
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory