RIYADH: Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology have developed a novel membrane technology that could significantly reduce energy consumption in industrial gas separation — a process that currently accounts for roughly 15 percent of global energy use.
The study, published in the journal Nature, describes a high-performance membrane composed of more than 90 percent metal-organic frameworks, which are highly porous materials renowned for their ability to separate gas molecules.
According to KAUST, the new membrane maintains the essential flexibility and durability required for large-scale industrial manufacturing.
Mohamed Eddaoudi, professor of chemical science and corresponding author of the study, emphasized the long-standing engineering hurdle behind scaling up advanced materials.
Eddaoudi said: “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.”
Demonstrating its potential for mass production, the research team successfully produced 20-meter continuous membrane rolls using an industrial roll-to-roll manufacturing process.
The membrane demonstrated strong performance across key environmental and industrial applications, including carbon capture, hydrogen purification, and propylene purification. During testing, it produced polymer-grade propylene in a single separation step while maintaining operational stability over 150 days of continuous use.
Techno-economic modeling suggests the technology could slash purification costs by up to 80 percent compared with traditional thermal distillation methods. Researchers noted it could also be applied to natural gas processing, hydrogen recovery, and direct air capture of carbon dioxide.
The international study was led by Xing Zhu, a KAUST doctoral graduate, in collaboration with researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the University of Montpellier, and the French National Center for Scientific Research.
The cross-border effort marks a major milestone in overcoming long-standing challenges in membrane architecture and scalable green technology.
