Inventors at Georgia Tech describe the design and methods for production of an ion selective hydrogen pump using solid state proton conductors coated with 2D materials (graphene and hBN).
- Increased efficiency - reduction of mechanical issues found in existing proton conductors
- Increased performance - solid state proton conductor is rigid eliminating concern of flexibility of polymer membranes in existing devices
- Nuclear Energy Applications
- Enrichment Cascades
- Research Applications
- Beam Production Capability
Isotope separation is the process of removing excess ions to identify a concentration of specific isotopes. Currently, 2D materials have been shown to exhibit ion selectivity when operated as a simple hydrogen pump. However, delivery of the hydrogen to the 2D material is of critical importance to a functioning device with adequate efficiency. Importantly, the conductivity of unique nuclei across the 2D material is significantly higher than that of atoms or molecules. For this reason, a proton conductor must be coupled to the 2D material to fabricate a functioning device.