Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks for Kinetic Separation of Propane and Propene

Abstract

Propane/propene separation by cryogenic distillation is one of the most energy and cost intensive industrial processes. Adsorptive separation is a more energy-efficient alternative. Three isostructural zinc imidazolate zeolitic framework materials are found, for the first time, to be very promising in the separation of propene and propane based on their different diffusion rates. Fine-tuning of the pore opening size is critical for this type of separation.

Molecular Mechanism of Swing Effect in Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework ZIF‐8: Continuous Deformation upon Adsorption

“…[9][10][11] ZIFs present ag reat potentialf or applications such as gas capture (CO 2 in particular), [12] sensing, [13] encapsulationa nd controlled delivery, [14] and fluid separation. [15][16][17][18] ZIF-8, in particular, is commercially available, hasb een widely studied,a nd has excellent performance at lab scale for the separation of many strategic mixtures, including C 2 /C 3 hydrocarbons, CO 2 /CH 4 ,C O 2 /N 2 ,b iobutanol fermentation mixture, phenolic isomers, etc. It is al ow density porousf ramework with the sodalite (sod)t opology and chemical formula Zn(mim) 2 ,w here mim = 2-methylimidazolate( see Figure 1).…”

Crystal structure of bis(4-(1H-pyrazol-5-yl)pyridine-κ2 N:N′)-bis(2-(2-((2,6-difluorophenyl)amino)phenyl)acetate-κO)cadmium(II), C44H34N8CdCl4O4

“…The design and construction of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with well-regulated network structures has been provoked significant interest on materials with properties in the areas of electrochemistry, photophysics, catalysis, adsorption and separation [3][4][5][6]. The organic ligands, which have their differences in the size, the flexibility, the coordination ability, the number of the carboxylate groups, the positions of the carboxylate groups and so on, play crucial role in the design and construction of desirable frameworks with interesting properties [7][8][9].…”

Crystal structure of poly[µ2-1,4-di(1H-imidazol-1-yl)butan-κ2N:N'-µ2-thiophene-2,3-dicarboxylato-κ4O,O':O'',O'''nickel(II)], C16H16N4NiO4S

“…The organic ligands, which have their differences in the size, the flexibility, the coordination ability, the number of the carboxylate groups, the positions of the carboxylate groups and so on, play crucial role in the design and construction of desirable frameworks with interesting properties [5][6][7][8]. In addition, N-containing auxiliary ligands are known to be ideal connectors between metal atoms for the propagation of coordination networks.…”