I agree with your assessment of the materials science articles but in this case I think you missed the 'breakthrough' part.
Graphene allows positively charged hydrogen to pass through it. The thought experiment is you create a vessel with an inner porous core, you wrap it in graphene, and then you apply a vacuum. That device will pull any positively charged hydrogen out of the atmosphere (which frankly isn't much except during thunderstorms)
This behavior with graphene isn't unknown, the first example was noting that graphene made for an exceptional water filter [1].
Even if that works, it may be subject to all the usual problems, such as filter clog. This is a big problem with hydrogen fuel cells, which require extremely pure hydrogen. It's a general problem with materials whose carefully constructed surface structure has some unusual property. The surface structure may be fragile.
A good example is NeverWet, the ultrahydrophobic coating. It repels water because the surface is composed of tiny spikes, and water's surface tension keeps the water supported on the surface of the spikes. This works so well that mud will run off of shoes treated with it. The effect, though, doesn't last long; even slight wear on the surface damages the micro-spikes. Reviews of the product on Amazon agree: great at first, useless within hours to days of use: (http://www.amazon.com/Oleum-274232-Never-Multi-Purpose/produ...).
> Ten Angstroms is equivalent to a billionth of a metre.
I love completely misleading explanations for the laymen. And I bet they'd get a much more impressive figure if they comapared the ten Angstrons with a light year.
The important detail here is that ten Angstrons is several times bigger than sodium and chloride ions. The researchers want a filter that allows for desalination, but all they got is one that allows for purification.
Graphene allows positively charged hydrogen to pass through it. The thought experiment is you create a vessel with an inner porous core, you wrap it in graphene, and then you apply a vacuum. That device will pull any positively charged hydrogen out of the atmosphere (which frankly isn't much except during thunderstorms)
This behavior with graphene isn't unknown, the first example was noting that graphene made for an exceptional water filter [1].
[1] http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/article/?id=11561