A process for separating mixtures of gases, vapors or liquids by diffusion through membranes. The object, the improvement of the degree of enrichment and of the separation characteristics, is accomplished by irradiating membranes with heavy ions perpendicularly or at an angle to their surfaces to produce latent nuclear traces. Without etching away the nuclear traces, the membranes are charged from one side with the mixture, a pressure differential is set-up, and the substances from the mixture are removed downstream from the other side, independently of the concentration difference, separating the components according to their rates of diffusion. The process has the further advantage that the components of the mixture to be separated are neither thermally stressed nor chemically changed. The process is suitable for the separation of a multitude of atomic and molecular mixtures.

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