A Ni-based metal-organic framework with super-high C3H8 uptake for adsorptive separation of light alkanes

Isoreticular Metal-Organic Frameworks with Aromatic Pores and Dimethylammonium Cations Enable Separation of Light Hydrocarbons and Xenon/Krypton

The separation of C2-C3 hydrocarbons from methane in natural gas and xenon/krypton purification are crucial yet challenging industrial processes. Herein, we report two isoreticular metal-organic frameworks, ZJU-89 and ZJU-90, featuring aromatic pore environments and dimethylammonium cations, that synergistically enhance the separation of these industrially relevant gas mixtures. ZJU-90 exhibits an exceptional separation performance, achieving C3H8/CH4 and C2H6/CH4 ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST) selectivities of 1065 and 48, respectively, at ambient conditions, outperforming most reported adsorbent materials. Remarkably, ZJU-90 enables the recovery of >99.95% purity methane from a C3H8/C2H6/CH4 mixture in a single adsorption step. The material also demonstrates the efficient separation of xenon from krypton, even at low concentrations. The superior performance stems from the aromatic rings decorating the pore walls and the free dimethylammonium cations in the channels, which provide an ideal chemical environment for the selective binding of C2H6, C3H8, and Xe through multiple C-H···π interactions and van der Waals forces, as elucidated by theoretical calculations. This work highlights the power of reticular chemistry in designing materials with synergistic pore environments for efficient separations.

Hyper-Cross-Linked Resin Modified by a Micropore Polymer for Gas Adsorption and Separation

Polymerization confined to the pore was first adapted for the nanoscale structure adjustment of adsorption resin. The self-cross-linked polymer (P-1) formed in the pore of hyper-cross-linked resin (HR) by the Friedel-Crafts reaction of p-dichloroxylene (p-DCX), occupying the macropore of the HR resin and bringing about an external micropore. Compared with the raw HR resin, the volume of the micropore of HR@P-1 in 0.4 < D < 1 nm increased but the volume of the macropore has obviously decreased. After the loading of P-1 in the nanopore of HR, HR@P-1 has better gas adsorption performance. At 298 and 100 KPa, the adsorption capacity of CO2 is almost 30% higher than that of HR, reaching 35.7 cm3/g, due to the increase in the smaller micropore volume. Moreover, HR@P-1 has also been found to be the first C2H6-selective adsorption resin. The uptake of C2H6 is up to 56 cm3/g, and the IAST selectivity of C2H6/CH4 reaches 15.3. HR@P-1 can also separate syngas efficiently at ambient temperature and be regenerated by simple vacuum operation.

Efficient Ethane and Propane Separation from Natural Gas Using Heterometallic Metal-Organic Frameworks with Interpenetrated Structures

The development of efficient technology for natural gas separation in industrial processes has become imperative. In this regard, the exploration of novel and effective adsorbents has gained significant attention. One promising approach is the metal regulation of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), particularly heterometallic MOFs, which offer greater potential for gas separation due to their diverse composition. This study presents the synthesis of a series of iron- and vanadium-based heterometallic MOFs (MIL-126), featuring interpenetrated structures, and investigates their adsorption performance for methane (CH4), ethane (C2H6), and propane (C3H8). Experimental results reveal that the choice of metal combinations within the MOF framework significantly influences the adsorption performance of MIL-126. Notably, heterometallic MIL-126(Fe/Ni) exhibits a stronger binding affinity for C3H8, with an impressive uptake of 177 cm3/g. The C3H8/CH4 ideal adsorbed solution theory selectivity of MIL-126(Fe/Ni) surpasses that of MIL-126(Fe) by a factor of 7, reaching a value of 853, second only to the highest reported value. Furthermore, MIL-126(Fe/Ni) exhibits remarkable potential for the recovery of pure CH4 from the equimolar C3H8/CH4 mixture, with the amount of pure CH4 approaching the maximum reported value for MOFs. Insights from isosteric heat at zero loading and Henry's coefficients indicate that the transformation of metal types leads to a change in the interaction energy between C3H8 and the framework. Furthermore, breakthrough experiments validate the effective separation capability of MIL-126(Fe/Ni) for CH4/C2H6/C3H8 mixtures. These findings underscore the remarkable potential of heterometallic MOFs in constructing a wide range of new MOFs with tailorable properties, thereby enhancing their gas separation performance.

Multivariate Metal-Organic Frameworks Prepared by Simultaneous Metal/Ligand Exchange for Enhanced C2-C3 Selective Recovery from Natural Gas

Recovering light alkanes from natural gas is a critical but challenging process in petrochemical production. Herein, we propose a postmodification strategy via simultaneous metal/ligand exchange to prepare multivariate metal-organic frameworks with enhanced capacity and selectivity of ethane (C2H6) and propane (C3H8) for their recovery from natural gas with methane (CH4) as the primary component. By utilizing the Kuratowski-type secondary building unit of CFA-1 as a scaffold, namely, {Zn5(OAc)4}6+, the Zn2+ metal ions and OAc- ligands were simultaneously exchanged by other transition metal ions and halogen ligands under mild conditions. Inspiringly, this postmodification treatment can give rise to improved capacity for C2H6 and C3H8 without a noticeable increase in CH4 uptake, and consequently, it resulted in significantly enhanced selectivity toward C2H6/CH4 and C3H8/CH4. In particular, by adjusting the species and amount of the modulator, the optimal sample CFA-1-NiCl2-2.3 demonstrated the maximum capacities of C2H6 (5.00 mmol/g) and C3H8 (8.59 mmol/g), increased by 29 and 32% compared to that of CFA-1. Moreover, this compound exhibited excellent separation performance toward C2H6/CH4 and C3H8/CH4, with high uptake ratios of 6.9 and 11.9 at 298 K and 1 bar, respectively, superior to the performance of a majority of the reported MOFs. Molecular simulations were applied to unravel the improved separation mechanism of CFA-1-NiCl2-2.3 toward C2H6/CH4 and C3H8/CH4. Furthermore, remarkable thermal/chemical robustness, moderate isosteric heat, and fully reproducible breakthrough experiments were confirmed on CFA-1-NiCl2-2.3, indicating its great potential for light alkane recovery from natural gas.

A Microporous Zn(bdc)(ted)0.5 with Super High Ethane Uptake for Efficient Selective Adsorption and Separation of Light Hydrocarbons

Separating light hydrocarbons (C2H6, C3H8, and C4H10) from CH4 is challenging but important for natural gas upgrading. A microporous metal-organic framework, Zn(bdc)(ted)0.5, based on terephthalic acid (bdc) and 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (ted) ligands, is synthesized and characterized through various techniques, including powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and porosity analysis. The adsorption isotherms of light hydrocarbons on the material are measured and the isosteric adsorption heats of CH4, C2H6, C3H8, and C4H10 are calculated. The prediction of C2-4/C1 adsorption selectivities is accomplished using ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST). The results indicate that the material exhibits exceptional characteristics, including a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of 1904 m2/g and a pore volume of 0.73 cm3/g. Notably, the material demonstrates remarkable C2H6 adsorption capacities (4.9 mmol/g), while CH4 uptake remains minimal at 0.4 mmol/g at 298 K and 100 kPa. These findings surpass those of most reported MOFs, highlighting the material's outstanding performance. The isosteric adsorption heats of C2H6, C3H8, and C4H10 on the Zn(bdc)(ted)0.5 are higher than CH4, suggesting a stronger interaction between C2H6, C3H8, and C4H10 molecules and Zn(bdc)(ted)0.5. The molecular simulation reveals that Zn(bdc)(ted)0.5 prefers to adsorb hydrocarbon molecules with richer C-H bonds and larger polarizability, which results in a stronger dispersion force generated by an adsorbent-adsorbate induced polarization effect. Therefore, the selectivity of C4H10/CH4 is up to 180 at 100 kPa, C3H8/CH4 selectivity is 67, and the selectivity of C2H6/CH4 is 13, showing a great potential for separating C2-4 over methane.

Formation of a N/O/F-Rich and Rooflike Cluster-Based Highly Stable Cu(I/II)-MOF for Promising Pipeline Natural Gas Upgrading by the Recovery of Individual C3H8 and C2H6 Gases

Due to the ultralow amounts of C₃H₈ and C₂H₆ gases, to design and synthesize water-stable MOFs that are promising for real-world efficient pipeline natural gas (NG) upgrading by the recovery of individual C₃H₈ and C₂H₆ gases is still a great challenge. Here, a N/O/F heteroatom-rich and rooflike [Cu(II)₄Cu(I)₂(COO)₄(tetrazolyl)₆] cluster-based ultra-microporous tsi-MOF (SNNU-Bai68) was afforded as a multiple heteroatom-rich and curved-surface-shaped cluster-based ultra-microporous MOF and the first porous MOF based upon such rooflike [Cu(II)_xCu(I)_y(tetrazolyl)_z]^(2x+y-z)+ cluster. In SNNU-Bai68, the rooflike cluster was further assembled into a 1D chain secondary building block (SBB), which led to a high density of accessible potential adsorptive sites. Very interestingly, it exhibited the most promising balance of high gas adsorption uptakes at 0.01, 0.03, and 0.05 bar, high C₃H₈/CH₄, C₃H₈/C₂H₆, and C₂H₆/CH₄ adsorption selectivities, moderate adsorption enthalpies, and high water and chemical stability for pipeline natural gas upgrading by the recovery of individual C₃H₈ and C₂H₆ gases, which was further confirmed by the breakthrough experiments of the gas mixtures with/without 74% RH. Furthermore, the SC-XRD and GCMC studies revealed that the successful separation of C₃H₈, C₂H₆, and CH₄ gases in SNNU-Bai68 is due to different synergistic effects of H-bonds between the frameworks at three adsorptive sites around each rooflike cluster and those different gas molecules, which were initially described systematically by the number of H atoms from the gas molecules, the total number of H-bonds within the synergistic H-bonds, and the binding energy of the framework at an adsorption site toward the gas molecules. In addition, this work may provide a method for the construction of a multiple heteroatom-rich and curved-surface-shaped cluster-based ultra-microporous MOF as a novel approach to build MOFs with polar pore surfaces, suitable pore sizes, and unique pore shapes to maximize the synergistic H-bonds between the framework and guests.