Latest Molecular sieve Stories

Possible applications in chemistry and industry Zeolites are porous materials with perfectly regular pores and high surface area that can act as molecular sieves. This property has led to important applications including the purification of air or water such as the contaminated seawater around Fukushima. Zeolites are used as catalysts – all gasoline is now made with zeolites – and for the separation and adsorption of numerous substances. While more than 200 zeolites are known today,...

Rice University team creates database of 2.6 million varieties of molecular sievesSome people collect stamps and coins, but when it comes to sheer utility, few collections rival the usefulness of Rice University researcher Michael Deem's collection of 2.6 million zeolite structures.Zeolites are materials -- including some natural minerals -- that act as molecular sieves, thanks to a Swiss-cheese-like arrangement of pores that can sort, filter, trap and chemically process everything from drugs...

Thin-film zeolite membranes with tiny, molecule-sized pores are one step closer to replacing the energy-intensive processes now used in industrial separations, a group of academic researchers is reporting.Writing this week in Science magazine, the group says the membranes' ability to separate molecules in a mixture is significantly improved by subjecting the zeolite to rapid thermal processing (RTP). By heating the membranes from room temperature to 700 degrees Centigrade in one minute,...