CLEVELAND, USA — A recent study highlights a significant inefficiency in the process of separating useful molecules from mixtures, which accounts for 15% of the nation’s energy consumption, emits an alarming 100 million tons of carbon dioxide, and incurs annual costs of $4 billion.
Commercial manufacturers rely on porous materials to separate potential new drugs and optimize processes in energy, chemical production, environmental science, and food and beverage industries. However, researchers have discovered that these manufactured separation materials fail to perform as intended, primarily due to pore blockage caused by excessive polymer content, leading to inefficient and costly separations.
In groundbreaking research, scientists from a local university employed single-molecule microscopy to reveal that molecules of interest predominantly diffuse and adsorb around the outer edges of porous materials, leaving the center underutilized. This research is set to be published in an upcoming issue of a leading scientific journal.
One of the key researchers noted the surprising nature of their findings: “These materials are marketed as ‘fully porous,’ but that’s not the reality,” highlighting the discrepancy between manufacturer claims and actual performance. The team investigated the underlying causes of this inefficiency using advanced microscopy techniques to analyze molecular behavior at the nanoscale.
The researchers initially tested the materials under industry-specified conditions, which yielded positive results. However, when evaluating the materials in conditions reflective of actual separations, they discovered that excessive cellulose added by manufacturers was obstructing the pores. Remarkably, removing this extra material significantly improved the potential for effective separations.
These insights aim to guide manufacturers toward designing more efficient separation processes. With the staggering costs involved in bringing new drugs to market largely attributed to separation inefficiencies, optimizing these methods could lead to substantial time and cost savings, enabling faster development of successful treatments for diseases.
The study’s innovative microscopy technique promises to refine separator performance predictions and potentially replace current trial-and-error methods in the field of separation science.
