Low coverage adsorptive properties
of linear and branched alkanes,
1-alkenes, cycloalkanes, aromatics, and small polar adsorbates on
the Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework ZIF-68 were explored by pulse gas
chromatographic experiments at temperatures between 413 and 513 K.
ZIF-68 has a complex structure with amphiphilic properties due to
the presence of two different imidazole linkers (2-nitroimidazolate
and benzimidazolate), resulting in small polar and large nonpolar
channels. Shape selective properties are absent for linear and branched
alkanes (C5–C12), which is not surprising
given the occurrence of large channels in the structure. A specific
mechanism for the adsorption of polar adsorbates is proposed via strong
interactions with the nitro groups, pointing inward in the small channel.
Further, n-alkanes, 1-alkenes, cycloalkanes, and
aromatics were used as probe molecules to determine whether or not
specific interactions were involved in the framework for nonpolar
adsorbates. These experimentally obtained adsorption energy values
were linked to a simple model, which relates the adsorption enthalpy
to the degree of branching and to the contribution of nonspecific
van der Waals (number of hydrogen atoms) and electrostatic (number
of double bonds) interactions.