Boosting Ethane/Ethylene Separation by MOFs through the Amino‐Functionalization of Pores

Abstract

Adsorption technology based on ethaneselective materials is a promising alternative to energyintensive cryogenic distillation for separating ethane (C 2 H 6 ) and ethylene (C 2 H 4 ). We employed a pore engineering strategy to tune the pore environment of a metal-organic framework (MOF) through organic functional groups and boosted the C 2 H 6 /C 2 H 4 separation of the MOF. Introduction of amino (À NH 2 ) groups into Tb-MOF-76 not only decreased pore sizes but also facilitated multiple guest-host interactions in confined pores. The NH 2 -functionalized Tb-MOF-76(NH 2 ) has increased C 2 H 6 and C 2 H 4 uptakes and C 2 H 6 /C 2 H 4 selectivity. The results of experimental and simulated transient breakthroughs reveal that Tb-MOF-76(NH 2 ) has significantly improved one-step separation performance for C 2 H 6 /C 2 H 4 mixtures with a high C 2 H 4 (> 99.95 %) productivity of 17.66 L kg À 1 compared to 7.53 L kg À 1 by Tb-MOF-76, resulting from the suitable pore confinement and accessible À NH 2 groups on pore surfaces.

Recent Advances of Multidentate Ligand-Based Anion-Pillared MOFs for Enhanced Separation and Purification Processes

“…Adsorptive separation processes based on advanced porous adsorbents are particularly noteworthy due to their broad applicability and mild operation conditions for various separation scenarios. , The choice of adsorbents is crucial in determining separation performances and the effectiveness of adsorptive processes. Compared to zeolites and porous carbons, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) exhibit unique features, including high porosity, adjustable pore size, customizable functionality, and designable flexibility . As a result, MOFs find wide applications such as gas adsorptive separations, radionuclide recovery, − sensing, proton conductivity, drug delivery, and heterogeneous catalysis .…”

Confining organic cations in metal organic framework allows molecular level regulation of CO2 capture

“…Physical adsorbent‐based adsorptive separation has demonstrated great prospects in terms of facile handling and low regeneration energy. To overcome the trade‐off between capacity and selectivity, various porous solids 8–11 have been explored for CO 2 capture and metal organic frameworks (MOFs) 12 constituted of metal nodes and organic ligands are among the most widely studied candidates, featuring the large surface area, abundant porosity, versatile matrix, tunability, and predictability 13–15 . The structure and function of MOFs can be rationalized during the crystallization process by judicious metal selection and ligand designation.…”