Boron Nitride Membranes with a Distinct Nanoconfinement Effect for Efficient Ethylene/Ethane Separation

A BN membrane with a distinct nanoconfinement effect toward efficient ethylene/ethane separation is presented. The horizontal and inclined self-assembly of 2D BN nanosheets endow the BN membrane with abundant percolating nanochannels, and these nanochannels are further decorated by reactive ionic liquids (RILs) to tailor their sizes as well as to achieve nanoconfinement effect. The noncovalent interactions between RIL and BN nanosheets favor the ordered alignment of the cations and anions of RIL within BN nanochannels, which contributes to a fast and selective ethylene transport. The resultant membranes exhibit an unprecedented separation performance with superhigh C₂H₄ permeance of 138 GPU and C₂H₄/C₂H₆ selectivity of 128 as well as remarkably improved long-term stability for 180 h, outperforming reported state-of-the-art membranes.