Thinking outside the cage – Science Codex

Molecular cages, in which guest molecules cling to the cages’ outer surfaces rather than enter an internal cavity, could cut the environmental impact of separating mixtures of industrial chemicals, research from KAUST suggests.
Molecular separations performed at scale by the chemical industry collectively account for as much as 15 percent of global energy consumption. One of the most energy-intensive separations involves benzene derivatives, called xylenes, which are produced as a mixture of three…

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