A single layer of graphene has been shown to filter hydrogen from its other isotopes. This technology could optimise the cleaning of nuclear waste and facilitate the production of heavy water.
The researchers, led by Nobel-prize winner Sir Andre Geim at the University of Manchester, used graphene membranes as a sieve to separate a mixture of hydrogen nuclei and deuterium nuclei. Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen.
Isotopes are different types of the same element, meaning they show almost exactly the same chemical behaviour but have different mass. Deuterium, which is hydrogen with an extra neutron, is frequently used to study the mechanisms of chemical reactions and in 'heavy water' nuclear reactors.
Using graphene membranes to seperate deuterium from hydrogen could enable heavy water to be produced faster and more economically as it requires 10 times less energy than current methods. Nuclear Power plants often consumer thousands of tonnes of heavy water during their lifetime.
http://www.azonano.com/news.aspx?newsID=34238
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