Size-inverse molecular sieving xenon/krypton separation through cation-tuned gating effect within Linde Type A zeolites
Achieving highly selective xenon/krypton separation is a longstanding challenge due to the similar physicochemical properties of these noble gases. Here, we develop the cation-tuned gating sieving mechanism in Linde Type A zeolites to achieve a high xenon/krypton IAST selectivity over 1600. Through the cation exchange by Ag<sup>+</sup> to introduce the preferential binding of xenon over krypton gas, followed by Ca²⁺ exchange to modulate cation density within the pore cavity so as to facilitate xenon uptake, the resulting Ag<sub>9</sub>Ca<sub>1.5</sub>A overcomes the kinetic limitations and achieves a dynamic xenon/krypton selectivity of 30 - the highest reported in the open literature - along with a high dynamic xenon uptake of 1.65 mmol/g. In this work, the sieving separation mechanism is exclusively established by the combined isothermal adsorption measurements, breakthrough experiments, synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption spectra, and ab initio density functional theory calculations.
Authors
- Daisong Chen
- Qinfen Gu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9209-4208)
- Tianyi Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8201-1453)
- Xin Yin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4759-0226)
- Liangchun Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2514-9528)
- Jin Shang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5165-0466)
- Y.N. Wang
- Banglin Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8707-8115)
- Boyu Zhang
- Zhendong Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3364-2523)
- Kai Jia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3543-6747)
Institutions
- Fujian Normal University (CN)
- Tongji University (CN)
- Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (AU)
- Zhejiang Normal University (CN)
- City University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Australian Synchrotron (AU)
- City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen Research Institute (CN)
- Ministry of Education (PT)
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering (CN)
- Tsinghua University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-11-07
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-64823-y
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Zeolite Catalysis and Synthesis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.54
Funders
- City University of Hong Kong
- Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
- Australian Synchrotron
- National Natural Science Foundation of China