Nanoporous Graphene Membranes for Efficient 3He/4He Separation

Nanoporous functionalized graphene membranes containing nitrogen atoms in a nanosized ring pore have the capability to separate 3He from 4He efficiently by quantum tunneling through the pore. Calculations on size-reduced model systems of single-graphene pores reveal that a balanced choice of tunneling barrier height and low gas temperature boosts the selectivity and keeps the helium gas flux at an industrially exploitable level.

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