A robust ethane-trapping metal-organic framework for efficient purification of ethylene

Owing to the similar physicochemical properties between ethane (C 2 H 6 ) and ethylene (C 2 H 4 ), obtaining polymerization-grade C 2 H 4 (≥99.95% pure) is still tricky problem in the petrochemical industry. Here, we report a robust scandium-based metal-organic framework (ScBPDC), which is connected by oxygen-rich phenyl ligand with exceptionally high thermal stability (up to 873 K) and capacity of C 2 H 6 (4.94 mmol/g at 100 kPa and 283 K), exhibiting superior separation performance of C 2 H 6 /C 2 H 4 mixture (the IAST selectivity is up to 1.7 at 283 K). Importantly, ScBPDC can produce 8.96 L/kg C 2 H 4 with ≥99.99% purity while the C 2 H 4 /C 2 H 6 (50:50, v / v ) as the mixture injection and the low isosteric heat of ScBPDC (16.4 kJ/mol for C 2 H 6 ) validates the facility of adsorbent regeneration. Furthermore, theoretical calculations demonstrate the C 2 H 6 molecules are trapped in the nonpolar pore surface via C-H⋯π and C-H⋯O interactions between multiple hydrogen atoms of C 2 H 6 and the host framework.