Addressing challenges with evaluating hydrogen-selective membrane performance by quadrupole mass spectrometry

Hydrogen separation using nanostructured membranes has gained research attention because of its potential to produce high-purity hydrogen by separating gases at the molecular level. Quadrupole mass spectrometry (QMS) is one method to evaluate these membranes' effectiveness in separating hydrogen from gas mixtures. However, quantifying gases in a mixture with QMS is challenging, especially when heavier gas ions interfere with a light gas ion, resulting in lower quantification accuracy. This study addresses this challenge by presenting a detailed calibration procedure that significantly improves hydrogen quantification accuracy up to a factor of 2.5. CO and CO2 were chosen as interfering gases because they are commonly released in conventional hydrogen production processes. By carefully evaluating the performance of these membranes, new opportunities for hydrogen separation may be realized.