Advanced porous materials with uniform molecular scale apertures are highly desirable for energy related separations. Among them, zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) have received significant interest as separation membranes owing to their narrow apertures that can target small gases. ZIFs exhibit excellent gas transport properties, such as unprecedentedly high C₃H₆ permeability and remarkable C₃H₆/C₃H₈ selectivity, inaccessible by other porous inorganic materials and polymers. Deposition of ultrathin ZIFs on porous substrates to form gas-selective barriers has been a major focus in this area. There has been a significant development in the synthesis of ultrathin ZIF membranes for gas separations. In this review, we present a summary of current state-of-the-art in ZIF membrane processing and highlight unique microstructural features of the prepared membranes. Following this, we discuss level of separation performances of these advanced membranes focusing on three emerging/unsolved applications. Finally, we provide our perspectives on future research directions in the area.

对于具有能量相关性的分离，非常需要具有均一分子尺度孔的先进多孔材料。其中，沸石咪唑酯骨架（ZIF）作为分离膜受到了广泛的关注，这是因为它们的孔径狭窄，可以瞄准小的气体。ZIF具有出色的气体传输性能，例如前所未有的高C ₃ H ₆渗透性和出色的C ₃ H ₆ / C ₃ H ₈选择性，其他多孔无机材料和聚合物无法达到。在多孔基板上沉积超薄ZIF以形成气体选择性阻挡层一直是该领域的主要重点。在用于气体分离的超薄ZIF膜的合成方面已经取得了重大进展。在这篇综述中，我们介绍了ZIF膜加工的最新技术，并重点介绍了所制备膜的独特微结构特征。在此之后，我们将重点讨论三种新兴/尚未解决的应用，讨论这些先进膜的分离性能水平。最后，我们提供对该领域未来研究方向的观点。