Novel method for rapid and efficient separation of oxygen-18 from oxygen-16 Positron Emission Tomography (PET) plays a major role in the early detection of various types of cancer. A research group led by Specially Appointed Professor Katsumi Kaneko of the Research Initiative for Supra-Materials (RISM), Shinshu University have discovered a method to separate oxygen-18 from oxygen-16, an essential isotope for PET diagnosis, at high speed and high efficiency. The results of this research were recently published online in the journal Nature Communications. The novel method for the rapid and efficient separation of O-18 from O2-16, which is abundant in the atmosphere, was carried out with nanoporous carbon, which is made of pores smaller than 1 nanometer. When a mixture of O2-16 and O2-18 is introduced into the nanoporous carbon, the O2-18 is preferentially adsorbed and is efficiently separated from O2-16. The experimental separation of O2-18 from O2-16 was also conducted using the low-temperature waste heat from a natural gas storage facility.