molecular sieve


nounChemistry.
  1. a compound with molecule-size pores, as some sodium aluminum silicates, that chemically locks molecules in them: used in purification and separation processes.

Origin of molecular sieve

1
First recorded in 1925–30

Words Nearby molecular sieve

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

British Dictionary definitions for molecular sieve

molecular sieve

noun
  1. chem a material that can absorb large amounts of certain compounds while not absorbing others and is thus suitable for use in separating mixtures

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012