Development of separation technologies using materials with nanospace

Abstract

Materials with nanospaces, represented by microporous materials like zeolites, are known to have adjustable pores with size of molecular dimensions and with specific shapes that serve as windows, and large specific surface areas owing to the existence of nanospaces. They exhibit molecular sieving abilities and high adsorption performances owing to such features. Their applications are extremely diverse, including catalysts, sensing, biotechnology, and separation. Particularly in the field of separation, technologies that realize molecular-level separations, such as microporous adsorbents and separation membranes, have been developed. In this paper, we introduce our attempts toward developing separation technologies based on microporous materials, e.g., adsorbents and separation membranes, and improving their usability and sustainability.