Carbon Membranes with Extremely High Separation Factors and Stability

For some time, carbon molecular sieve membranes (CMSMs) have been promoted as energy‐efficient candidates for gas separation due to their high selectivity, permeability, and stability in chemically aggressive environments. Nevertheless, these membranes have not yet been made into commercial products due to a significant decrease in performance when exposed to humidity and/or oxygen. Herein, disruptive CMSMs with extremely high separation performance and stability, even in the presence of humidity, are reported. The carbon membranes are prepared from a renewable, low‐cost precursor with a single carbonization step. Water vapor adsorption/desorption studies demonstrate that these membranes have a linear water vapor adsorption isotherm, characteristic of a homogeneous distribution of hydrophilic sites on the pore surfaces, allowing for water molecules to hop continuously between sites and avoiding the formation of pore‐blocking water clusters. These results are a breakthrough toward bringing this new type of membrane to a commercial level. Disruptive carbon molecular sieve membranes with extremely high gas separation performance and stability, even in the presence of high humidity values, are reported. Dependence between the separation of worm and spheroid‐like molecules according to the morphology of the pores is proposed. The obtained results are a breakthrough toward bringing this new type of membrane to a commercial level.