Promising early results
The membrane excelled in lab tests. It increased the toluene concentration by 20 times in a mixture with triisopropylbenzene. It also effectively separated real industrial oil samples containing naphtha, kerosene, and diesel.
“You can imagine that with a membrane like this, you could have an initial stage that replaces a crude oil fractionation column,” said Smith.
“You could partition heavy and light molecules and then you could use different membranes in a cascade to purify complex mixtures to isolate the chemicals that you need.”
Experts believe this could be a major leap for industrial efficiency. “This work takes the workhorse technology of the membrane desalination industry… and creates a new way to apply it to organic systems,” said Andrew Livingston, a chemical engineering professor at Queen Mary University of London.