{"schema_version":1,"experiment_id":"eoa_inverse_innovation_exp09_archetype_breadth150_20260804","research_id":"eoa_inverse_innovation_exp09_light_prior_art_20260804","cell_id":"graceful_degradation__chemistry_materials","search_lanes":{"direct_problem_and_intervention":{"queries":["polymer gas separation membrane reversible gating condensable hydrocarbon plasticization preserve selectivity reduced flux","hydrogen separation membrane heavy hydrocarbon plasticization experimental study polymer","gas separation membrane graceful degradation reduced flux preserve purity"],"source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2"],"no_result_note":null},"synonyms_and_historical_terms":{"queries":["stimuli responsive gas separation membrane switchable permeability selectivity gating","penetrant induced plasticization glassy polymer membrane hydrocarbon contaminant","smart membrane reversible pore opening closing gas permeation"],"source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2"],"no_result_note":null},"products_practices_and_standards":{"queries":["commercial polyimide gas separation membrane contaminant exposure BTX dodecane","hydrogen membrane hydrocarbon contaminants pretreatment plasticization","DOE hydrogen safe operating practices ventilation purge pressure testing"],"source_ids":["SRC1","SRC4"],"no_result_note":null},"component_combination":{"queries":["dual network membrane gated high flux domains robust continuous gas separation","bimodal selective layer switchable gas transport high flux domains","binary cooperative heterogeneous gas separation membrane independent dual function regions","patent gas separation membrane gated domains robust network contaminant responsive"],"source_ids":["SRC2","SRC3"],"no_result_note":"No retained source disclosed the full combination of a contaminant-triggered gate, separately closable auxiliary high-flux domains, a continuously connected same-layer fallback network, declared reduced-rate operation, and analyzer-conditioned staged reopening."}},"sources":[{"source_id":"SRC1","title":"The Impact of Various Natural Gas Contaminant Exposures on CO2/CH4 Separation by a Polyimide Membrane","publisher":"Membranes (MDPI)","url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/10/11/324","source_type":"PRIMARY_RESEARCH","claims_supported":["Commercial polyimide hollow-fiber modules were experimentally exposed to hydrogen sulfide, dodecane, and benzene-toluene-xylene contaminants.","Contaminant exposure changed gas permeability and, in some cases, CO2/CH4 selectivity; the authors identify operational-stability consequences and plasticization-related loss of separation efficiency.","The study did not determine whether the observed changes were reversible or irreversible and did not test hydrogen-rich feed or pathway-selective gating."]},{"source_id":"SRC2","title":"Electrochemically mediated gating membrane with dynamically controllable gas transport","publisher":"Science Advances (AAAS)","url":"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abc1741","source_type":"PRIMARY_RESEARCH","claims_supported":["Reversible electrochemical metal deposition and dissolution opened or blocked porous gas-transport paths.","Gas permeability was continuously tunable over approximately two orders of magnitude with demonstrated reversibility and short response time.","A CO2 concentrator used alternating gates to reduce feed-product cross-talk, establishing dynamic gas-transport gating but not contaminant-triggered selective degradation within a hydrogen-selective polymer layer."]},{"source_id":"SRC3","title":"Gas separation with binary-cooperative heterogeneous membranes","publisher":"Nature Communications","url":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-69949-1","source_type":"PRIMARY_RESEARCH","claims_supported":["A heterogeneous polymer selective layer contained independent, cooperative dual-function regions.","Amide-rich peaks provided fast CO2 transport while phenyl-rich valleys and deformation supplied stress release and compaction resistance.","The architecture combines high-transport and robustness functions but keeps both active; it does not reversibly disable the fast regions during contaminant exposure or demonstrate a fallback-only operating mode."]},{"source_id":"SRC4","title":"Current Safe Operating Practices","publisher":"U.S. Department of Energy","url":"https://www.energy.gov/cmei/fuels/current-safe-operating-practices","source_type":"OFFICIAL_GUIDANCE","claims_supported":["Hydrogen handling presents fire, explosion, and asphyxiation hazards.","DOE identifies inert-gas purging, adequate ventilation, operator training, proper system design, and process-wide safety planning as relevant safeguards.","Coupon testing therefore requires facility authorization and engineered hydrogen controls; the responsive membrane cannot be the sole safety safeguard."]}],"problem_evidence":{"status":"PARTLY_SUPPORTED","finding":"The problem is visible: experimental work on commercial polyimide fibers shows that condensable and other natural-gas contaminants can alter permeability and selectivity, while recent membrane research treats plasticization and structural stability under pressure as material-design problems. However, the retained evidence is principally CO2/CH4 rather than hydrogen purification, and it does not establish that a short contaminant pulse causes persistent damage in the proposed material-feed pair.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC3"]},"closest_prior_art":[{"name":"Electrochemically mediated reversible gas-gating membrane","source_ids":["SRC2"],"overlap":"Provides rapid, reversible closing and reopening of gas-transport pores and demonstrates that gating can protect separation efficiency by reducing cross-talk.","remaining_difference":"The trigger is commanded electrochemistry, closure acts on the tested porous gate rather than a contaminant-vulnerable auxiliary population, and no distinct same-layer robust network continues selective reduced-rate service."},{"name":"Binary-cooperative heterogeneous gas-separation membrane","source_ids":["SRC3"],"overlap":"Places independent fast-transport and mechanically robust functional regions within one heterogeneous selective layer, closely approaching the proposed bimodal functional architecture.","remaining_difference":"The regions cooperate continuously to improve full-service performance; the fast regions are not contaminant-triggered, reversibly disabled, or subordinated to a purity-preserving fallback mode."},{"name":"Commercial polyimide membrane with contaminant-aware process practice","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC4"],"overlap":"Shows contaminant-sensitive membrane operation and supports monitoring, pretreatment or removal, purging, and safe interruption as established surrounding practices.","remaining_difference":"The response remains external process protection or material selection rather than an internal priority order that selectively withdraws vulnerable transport paths while preserving useful separation."}],"prior_art_disposition":"ADJACENT_PRIOR_ART","contrastive_claim_remaining":"In one hydrogen-selective layer, a continuously connected, contaminant-robust lower-permeance network remains functional while separately identifiable auxiliary high-flux domains reversibly close in response to a validated condensable-sorbate threshold before the purity floor is crossed; the robust network alone must maintain a predefined useful minimum flux, and reopening requires a lower recovery threshold plus independent composition confirmation. The retained art establishes contaminant-sensitive performance, reversible gas gating, and heterogeneous fast/robust regions separately, but not this complete priority-ordered combination.","contrastive_claim_falsifier":"The contrast is falsified by a pre-existing disclosure that combines those elements in one selective layer, or experimentally if the gated coupon fails to close auxiliary paths earlier than a composition-matched ungated control, crosses the purity floor before closure, falls below useful minimum flux, or fails predefined recovery tolerance. Purity preservation attributable only to uniform densification, lost membrane area, leakage changes, irreversible damage, feed throttling, or upstream contaminant removal also falsifies the claimed mechanism.","gates":{"adequate_source_search":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"The bounded search covered direct phrasing, plasticization and smart-membrane terminology, commercial contaminant exposure and hydrogen safety practices, heterogeneous dual-function layers, reversible gas gates, and patent-style component combinations. Four opened sources from four publisher contexts were retained, including three primary studies and official guidance.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3","SRC4"]},"supported_problem":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"Primary experimental evidence makes contaminant-induced changes in polymer-membrane permeability and selectivity visible, although transfer to hydrogen-rich feeds and persistent damage remains unverified; this supports a partly supported problem finding.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC3"]},"distinct_testable_claim":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"A narrow distinction remains testable: selective withdrawal of auxiliary fast paths before purity failure while a separate same-layer robust network maintains quantified minimum flux, followed by thresholded reversible restoration. The closest sources provide gating or dual-function regions, but not both in this operating policy.","source_ids":["SRC2","SRC3"]},"bounded_next_test":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"A blinded comparison of gated, composition-matched ungated, and robust-network-only coupons under one clean/contaminant/clean sequence is bounded. Continuous composition, flux, pressure, and morphology measurements plus predefined closure timing, purity, minimum-flux, and recovery criteria can falsify the claim without production deployment.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC4"]},"no_obvious_safety_or_authority_stop":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"No categorical stop is apparent for authorized coupon-scale work using non-toxic, non-pyrophoric feeds in a compatible pressure-rated, ventilated cell. A facility-specific safety plan, hydrogen detection and ventilation, inert purging, pressure protection, independent composition analysis, isolation, and depressurization are required; production connection remains excluded.","source_ids":["SRC4"]}},"screen_survival":true,"world_novelty_boundary":"This four-source public-web screen establishes only coarse researchability and an adjacent-prior-art disposition. It cannot establish world novelty, patentability or freedom to operate, market size, expert acceptance, scalability, certification, or realized value. Broader patent-family, scholarly, standards, vendor, and process-safety searches may reveal a closer combination or invalidate the remaining contrast."}