High‐purity ethanol is a promising renewable energy resource, however separating ethanol from trace amount of water is extremely challenging. Herein, two ultramicroporous MOFs (UTSA‐280 and Co‐squarate) were used as adsorbents. A prominent water adsorption and a negligible ethanol adsorption identify perfect sieving effect on both MOFs. Co‐squarate exhibits a surprising water adsorption capacity at low pressure that surpassing the reported MOFs. Single crystal X‐ray diffraction and theoretical calculations reveal that such prominent performance of Co‐squarate derives from the optimized sieving effect through pore structure adjustment. Co‐squarate with larger rhombohedral channel is suitable for zigzag water location, resulting in reinforced guest‐guest and guest‐framework interactions. Ultrapure ethanol (99.9 %) can be obtained directly by ethanol/water mixed vapor breaking through the columns packed with Co‐squarate, contributing to a potential for fuel‐grade ethanol purification.

High-purity ethanol is a promising renewable energy resource, however separating ethanol from trace amount of water is extremely challenging. Herein, two ultramicroporous MOFs (UTSA-280 and Co-squarate) were used as adsorbents. A prominent water adsorption and a negligible ethanol adsorption identify perfect sieving effect on both MOFs. Co-squarate exhibits a surprising water adsorption capacity at low pressure that surpassing the reported MOFs. Single crystal X-ray diffraction and theoretical calculations reveal that such prominent performance of Co-squarate derives from the optimized sieving effect through pore structure adjustment. Co-squarate with larger rhombohedral channel is suitable for zigzag water location, resulting in reinforced guest-guest and guest-framework interactions. Ultrapure ethanol (99.9 %) can be obtained directly by ethanol/ water mixed vapor breaking through the columns packed with Co-squarate, contributing to a potential for fuel-grade ethanol purification.

Strength and carbonation performance are two main concerns in porous cementitious materials exposed to the atmosphere with an increasing concentration of CO2. Carbon-based reinforcers have been widely investigated in recent decades. However, practical applications have been impeded by their high cost. In this paper, inexpensive graphite nanoparticles were used to improve cement mortar. The compressive strength and carbonation performance were evaluated. XRD and SEM-EDX tests were conducted to further analyse the mechanisms. The results showed that the effects of graphite nanoparticles differed in dosage. The addition of graphite nanoparticles in the amount of 0.5% by mass significantly enhanced the performance against carbonation, while slightly worsened the compressive strength. On the contrary, 1.0% addition enhanced both the performance against CO2 penetration and strength of cement mortar after carbonation.