Hydrogen, one of the most promising energy carriers for the future, is currently produced mainly by natural gas reforming or coal gasification, where mixtures containing H₂, CO₂ and contaminants like CO, H₂S and CH₄ are obtained. Among other methods, membrane technology has received special attention due to its potential efficiency for hydrogen separation, simplicity of operation, low energy consumption, and because it is environmentally friendly. For this application, the inorganic membranes can be essentially divided into five main families: metallic and proton conducting (dense phases), and silica, zeolite and carbon molecular sieve (porous solids). Over the past 20 years, palladium-based membranes have been the most studied and implemented at industrial level; however, recent advances in other membrane types have received a great deal of attention. This article critically reviews more than 520 publications, highlighting the latest research developments on inorganic membranes for the recovery and purification of hydrogen, with emphasis on their structural characteristics, synthesis, commercial application, drawbacks and challenges. Furthermore, a large compilation of data is provided in Supplementary Material divided according to membrane type.

氢是未来最有前途的能源载体之一，目前主要通过天然气重整或煤气化生产，其中含有H ₂，CO ₂和污染物（如CO，H ₂ S和CH _4）的混合物获得。在其他方法中，膜技术因其氢分离的潜在效率，操作简便，能耗低以及对环境友好而受到了特别关注。对于此应用，无机膜可基本上分为五个主要族：金属和质子传导（致密相），以及二氧化硅，沸石和碳分子筛（多孔固体）。在过去的20年中，钯基膜在工业水平上得到了最深入的研究和实施。然而，其他膜类型的最新进展已引起广泛关注。本文严格审查了520多个出版物，重点介绍了用于回收和纯化氢的无机膜的最新研究进展，着重于它们的结构特征，合成，商业应用，缺点和挑战。此外，根据膜类型划分的补充材料中提供了大量数据汇编。