Balancing in-plane pores and interlayer channels of porous MXene nanosheet membranes for scalable hydrogen purification
Two-dimensional (2D) nanosheet membranes exhibit promising H<sub>2</sub> purification due to their atomic thickness. However, the synergistic interplay between in-plane pores and interlayer spacing on gas transport in 2D membrane has never been studied. Here, we engineer porous MXene nanosheets with artificially controllable in-plane pore to construct membranes with precise interlayer spacing, balancing the two types of channels for promising H<sub>2</sub>/CO<sub>2</sub> separation. Optimal porous-MXene nanosheet membranes achieve a threefold increase in H<sub>2</sub> permeance (1335 GPU) over nonporous-MXene nanosheet membranes (419 GPU) with comparable H<sub>2</sub>/CO<sub>2</sub> selectivity (118). Theory and experiment demonstrate that the larger in-plane pores provide fast mass transfer channels enhancing H<sub>2</sub> permeance, while smaller interlayer spacings as effective sieving channels govern selectivity. The Raman mapping visualizes H<sub>2</sub> transport through in-plane pores. Manufacturing of meter-scale membranes underscores industrial viability. This work establishes universal design principles in high-performance 2D nanosheet membranes for separation, adsorption and catalysis.
Authors
- Wufeng Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6346-3948)
- Zenan Shi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4966-8306)
- Mide Luo
- Shu‐Ming Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4583-2655)
- Sheng Dai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5787-0179)
- Yanying Wei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7481-8962)
- Yeming Zhai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2828-1062)
- Yali Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-4006-2371)
- Changfei Jing
- Lan Lan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-1531-8753)
- Kai‐Ge Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8894-0686)
- Jiayu Luo
- Wenbo Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0741-9210)
- Li Ding (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2393-1188)
- Haihui Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2917-4739)
- Libo Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7699-4484)
- Z.P. Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8478-6076)
- Yufei Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8847-1233)
Institutions
- East China University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Nankai University (CN)
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering (CN)
- South China University of Technology (CN)
- Tsinghua University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-11-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-64942-6
- Primary Topic
- MXene and MAX Phase Materials
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province
- State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering
- Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Project
- National Key Research and Development Program of China
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities