Sieving Effect for the Separation of C₂H₂/C₂H₄ in an Ultrastable Ultramicroporous Zinc‐Organic Framework

Abstract

The separation of C2H2 from C2H4 is one of the most challenging tasks due to the similarity of their physical properties. In addition, green synthetic protocol and adsorbent's stability are also the major concerns during the separation. Herein, under hydrothermal green synthesis conditions, an ultrastable ultramicroporous Zn‐MOF was designed and synthesized with a high yield. The pore diameter of the Zn‐MOF is 3.6 Å, which lies in between the diameters of C2H2 (3.3 Å) and C2H4 (4.2 Å) molecules, leading to an efficient separation of the C2H2/C2H4 mixtures by the sieving effect. The practical separation performance of C2H2/C2H4 was confirmed by the dynamic breakthrough experiments. Moreover, the high stability enables the adsorption capacity of the Zn‐MOF to C2H2, which can be maintained under a wide range of pH (1–13). Molecular simulations were also performed to identify the different C2H2‐ and C2H4‐binding sites in Zn‐MOF.

Porous MOF Featuring 2D Intersecting Channels Based on a Pentanuclear Mn5(COO)10CO3 Cluster with Upgrading of Pipeline Natural Gas

“…On the other hand, C 2 H 6 , C 3 H 8 , and CO 2 are key raw materials for the production of propylene, ethylene, and propylene carbonate. – Therefore, the separation and recovery of C 2 H 6 , C 3 H 8 , and CO 2 from CH 4 are beneficial to energy savings and have important industrial significance . The currently used traditional separation methods, including low temperature distillation and steam cracking, are energy-intensive, low in efficiency, and environmentally unfriendly. – Thus, a new method is needed for efficient, low-energy purification and separation of mixed natural gas.…”

Separation of hydrocarbon mixture of neopentane and n‐hexane using NaY zeolite: Large distinct diffusivity

“…Recently, several ideas have been discussed to efficiently separate hydrocarbon mixtures using MOF. Chu and co‐workers 11 used green‐synthetic technique to synthesize an ultrastable and ultramicroporous Zn‐MOF to separate C 2 H 2 from C 2 H 4 with a high yield using the sieving effect of the MOF. Sakai et al 12 showed that by introducing Ag + in *BEA‐type zeolite membrane, one could efficiently separate olefins from paraffins (especially ethylene from ethane and propylene from propane) by permeance of olefins through the Ag + –*BEA membrane.…”