Riyadh: Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), along with academic partners in China and France, have unveiled a groundbreaking membrane technology designed to decrease energy consumption in industrial gas separation processes, a sector responsible for approximately 15% of global energy use. According to Saudi Press Agency, this advancement overcomes a major challenge that has hindered the large-scale production of advanced membrane materials.

Published in the prestigious journal *Nature*, the research highlights the potential of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), which are known for their highly porous structure capable of precisely separating molecules. Although MOFs have been considered promising alternatives to traditional energy-intensive separation processes, their performance has struggled to transition from laboratory settings to industrial-scale applications.

The researchers have introduced a novel membrane architecture that incorporates over 90% MOF material while maintaining flexibility, durability, and compatibility with current manufacturing techniques. Conventional membranes require polymers for structural integrity, but excessive polymer content can diminish their efficacy. The team addressed this by employing a small molecular anchor to link MOF nanosheets with adjacent polymer chains, effectively creating a unified membrane structure.

Demonstrating its industrial relevance, the team successfully produced continuous membrane rolls measuring 20 meters using roll-to-roll manufacturing techniques in China, showcasing the technology's compatibility with existing industrial processes.

Professor Mohamed Eddaoudi, a Chemical Science professor at KAUST and a corresponding author of the study, emphasized the significance of the breakthrough: "Industrial separations consume enormous amounts of energy every day. The challenge has never been discovering materials capable of performing these separations, but finding ways to manufacture them at the scale industry requires. This work provides a practical pathway for doing that and brings advanced membrane technologies much closer to real-world deployment."

Further details from the release indicate that the new membrane demonstrated robust performance in key industrial separations, including carbon capture, hydrogen purification, and propylene purification, an essential process in the petrochemical industry. Notably, the membrane achieved polymer-grade propylene production in a single stage and maintained its performance over 150 days of continuous operation.

Modeling within the study suggests this technology could potentially cut purification costs by up to 80% compared to conventional distillation methods, which depend on repeated heating and cooling of gases.

The international study was spearheaded by Professor Sheng Zhou of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), a former KAUST Ph.D. student, bringing together a collaborative team from KAUST, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), Tsinghua University, the University of Montpellier, and the French Centre for Scientific Research, CNRS.