Enrichment and separation of isotopes, isotopologues, or other chemical species, via differential embedding in a capture matrix

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12109535-B2
Application number	US-202117453357-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 3, 2021
Priority date	Nov 6, 2020
Publication date	Oct 8, 2024
Grant date	Oct 8, 2024

Abstract

Methods for enriching, separating, or enriching and separating isotopes and isotopologues, as well as other chemical species, contained in a supersonic beam are provided. In the methods, a supersonic beam having different isotopes, isotopologues, or other chemical species entrained therein and a beam comprising a matrix material converge on a surface. As the matrix material forms a solid matrix on the surface, heavier isotopes, isotopologues, and/or other chemical species become preferentially embedded in the matrix, while lighter isotopes, isotopologues, and/or other chemical species are preferentially scattered from the surface.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for enriching, separating, or enriching and separating chemical species having different masses, the method comprising:
directing a first beam onto a surface, the first beam comprising a matrix material that forms a solid matrix on the surface;
directing a second beam onto the surface, such that the second beam converges with the first beam at the surface, wherein the second beam is a supersonic beam comprising a first chemical species and a second chemical species, the first chemical species having a higher incident momentum than the second chemical species, whereby the first chemical species is preferentially embedded in the solid matrix, relative to the second chemical species; and
releasing the first chemical species from the solid matrix and collecting the released first chemical species, collecting the second chemical species scattered from the solid matrix, or both.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the solid matrix is an amorphous matrix.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the matrix material comprises water molecules and the solid matrix is ice.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first beam is a supersonic beam.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first beam is an effusive beam.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein: (i) the first chemical species is a first isotope of a first element and the second chemical species is a second isotope of the first element; or (ii) the first chemical species is a first isotopologue of a first molecule and the second chemical species is a second isotopologue of the first molecule.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first chemical species is the first isotope of the first element and the second chemical species is the second isotope of the first element.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first chemical species is the first isotopologue of the first molecule and the second chemical species is the second isotopologue of the first molecule.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the solid matrix is an amorphous matrix.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the matrix material comprises water molecules and the solid matrix is ice.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the ice is amorphous.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein releasing and collecting the isotopes of the first element or the isotopologues of the first molecule comprise heating the amorphous matrix to, or above, a temperature at which the amorphous matrix undergoes an amorphous-to-crystalline phase transition.

13. The method of claim 6 , further comprising condensing the collected isotopes or isotopologues.

14. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first beam is a supersonic beam.

15. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first beam is an effusive beam.

16. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first and second isotopes are selected from one of the following groups: 36 Ar and 40 Ar; 6 Li and 7 Li; 22 Ne and 20 Ne; 24 Mg and 26 Mg; 124 Xe, 129 Xe, 131 Xe, 132 Xe, 134 Xe, and 136 Xe; and 78 Kr, 82 Kr, and 86 Kr.

17. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first and second isotopologues are selected from one of the following groups: 12 CH 4 and 13 CH 4 ; 28 SiH 4 and 29 SiH 4 ; 28 SiF 4 and 29 SiF 4 ; H 2 , HD, HT, D 2 , DT, and T 2 ; 1 H 2 16 O, 1 H 2 H 16 O, 2 H 2 16 O, 1 H 2 16 O, and 1 H 2 18 O, 16 O 2 and 18 O 2 ; 14 N 2 and 15 N 2 ; HBr and DBr; HCl and DCl; HI and DI; H 2 S and D 2 S; CH 3 F, CD 3 F, 13 CH 3 F, and 13 CD 3 F; CH 3 Cl, CD 3 Cl, 13 CH 3 Cl, and 13 CD 3 Cl; 13 C 16 O 2 , 12 C 16 O 2 , 13 C 18 O 2 , and 12 C 18 O 2 ; 12 C 18 O, 13 C 18 O, 13 C 16 O, and 13 C 18 O; NH 3 , 15 NH 3 , ND 3 , and 15 ND 3 ; NO and 15 NO; 14 N 2 O, 15 N 14 NO, and 15 N 2 O; PH 3 and PD 3 ; COS and 13 COS; CHCl 2 F and CDCl 2 F; 12 CH 2 F 2 , 13 CH 2 F 2 , 12 CD 2 F 2 , and 13 CD 2 F 2 ; CH 3 Br, 13 CH 3 Br, and CD 3 Br; 12 CH 3 N, 13 CH 3 N, 13 CH 3 15 N, 12 CH 3 15 N, 12 CD 3 N, and 12 CH 2 DN; 12 C 2 H 4 , 12 C 2 H 2 D 2 , 13 C 2 H 4 , 13 C 2 D 4 , and 12 C 2 H 3 D; 12 C 2 H 6 , 13 C 2 H 6 , and 12 C 2 D 6 ; 32 SF 4 , 33 SF 4 , 34 SF 4 , and 36 SF 4 ; and 12 C 3 H 6 , 12 C 3 D 6 , 13 C 3 H 6 , and 12 C 3 H 4 D 2 .

Assignees

• Univ Chicago

Inventors

• Sibener Steven J
• Gibson Kevin D

Classifications

• B01D59/18

  by separation jets · CPC title

• B01D59/34

  Separation by photochemical methods · CPC title

• G21K1/06

  using diffraction, refraction or reflection, e.g. monochromators (G21K1/10, G21K7/00 take precedence) · CPC title

• B01D59/26 Primary

  by sorption, i.e. absorption, adsorption, persorption · CPC title