Purification of Noble Gases
The noble gases are characterized by closed shell electronic structures and thus do not form ionic species under normal conditions. Ion exchange resins and adsorbents are not commonly applied to noble gas separations.
He
Helium
Ne
Neon
Ar
Argon
Kr
Krypton
Xe
Xenon
Rn
Radon
Even though they are not ionically active and, therefore, cannot be separated using ion exchange resins, impurities such as certain volatile organic compounds can be removed from the noble gases using polymeric adsorbents. Since the noble gases are often used in a compressed form, they may be contaminated with compressor lubricants.
AmberSep Optipore™ V493 Polymeric Adsorbent has been shown to work well to remove these compressor lubricants from compressed gas streams1 and AmberSep Optipore™ V503 Polymeric Adsorbent could also be tested for comparison.