Fundamental understanding of diffusion in zeolites

The applicant is ranked within the top 1% of researchers in Chemical Engineering and is the international leader in ultra-thin zeolite membranes. He has studied the exceptionally fast diffusion of small molecules in the materials during many years.

The work has resulted in a new hypothesis on how the diffusion in the micropores occurs, and this will be explored in the project.

The significance of the work stems from the fact that fundamental understanding of the diffusion process is crucial to improve these materials, used in a great number of industrial processes of outmost importance to humankind.

We will carry out systematic studies of the surface diffusion process and the surface barrier by a combination of experimental work and advanced mathematical modelling.

More precisely, we will record high quality permeation data for ultra-thin, defect free zeolite membranes of three types.

Permeation data will be recorded in a wide temperature for a range of molecules to determine the activation energies and the influence of molecular weight. DFT models will be developed to describe the diffusion on a molecular level.

We aim to show that the diffusion coefficient in microporous materials is a simple function of the heat of adsorption and the molecular weight.

Such a correlation has never been observed before but would be comparable to the Knudsen diffusivity in mesoporous materials, that can be derived from the kinetic theory of gases that was developed more than 100-years ago.