VASA Vanadium-Alloy Membrane for Ultra-High-Purity Hydrogen Purification

Problem solved

Ultra-high-purity hydrogen (>99.9999%) is required for advanced semiconductor manufacturing (2 nm node, power devices), fuel-cell vehicles (H2 stations), and medical uses, but conventional Pd-alloy membrane purifiers are expensive due to palladium cost (~5,000/kg) and supply constraints. Vanadium is ~1/100th the cost with comparable theoretical H2 selectivity. However, vanadium membranes have historically suffered from hydrogen embrittlement and oxidation. UHP's VASA alloy formulation and module design claim to solve these durability issues.

Application contexts

• Semiconductor fab ultra-high-purity H2 supply (2 nm GAA, power device manufacturing)
• Hydrogen refueling station H2 purification (on-site electrolysis + polishing)
• Medical anti-oxidation environment H2 delivery
• FCV-grade hydrogen purification from reformed or electrolytic H2
• Industrial H2 recovery from off-gas streams

Technical principle

Hydrogen-selective metal membrane purification relies on solution-diffusion: H2 molecules dissociate into atomic hydrogen on the feed-side surface, protons diffuse through the metal lattice driven by the concentration gradient, and recombine into H2 on the permeate side. Only atomic hydrogen can pass through the dense metal lattice — all other gas molecules are blocked, yielding theoretical 100% selectivity. VASA (vanadium superalloy) is formulated to maintain ductility under hydrogen exposure (resisting embrittlement) while providing high permeance. The membrane is assembled into a compact cylindrical module (VASA module) with proprietary sealing and support structure.

Typical use cases

• Point-of-use H2 purifier for semiconductor fab wet-cleaning and annealing processes
• Compact H2 purification module integrated with on-site PEM or alkaline electrolyzer
• H2 station tail-gas purification for FCV-grade fuel
• Medical-grade H2 generator for inhalation therapy equipment