Ethylene (C2H4) purification from multi-component mixtures by physical adsorption is a great challenge in the chemical industry. Herein, we report a GeF62-anion embedded MOF (ZNU-6) with customized pore structure and pore chemistry for benchmark one-step C2H4recovery from C2H2and CO2. ZNU-6 exhibits significantly high C2H2(1.53 mmol/g) and CO2(1.46 mmol/g) capacity at 0.01 bar. Record high C2H4productivity is achieved from C2H2/CO2/C2H4mixtures in a single adsorption process under various conditions. The separation performance is retained over multiple cycles and under humid conditions. The potential gas binding sites are investigated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, which suggest that C2H2and CO2are preferably adsorbed in the interlaced narrow channel with high aff0inity. In-situ single crystal structures with the dose of C2H2, CO2or C2H4further reveal the realistic host-guest interactions. Notably, rare C2H2clusters are formed in the narrow channel while two distinct CO2adsorption locations are observed in the narrow channel and the large cavity with a ratio of 1:2, which accurately account for the distinct adsorption heat curves.
26 June 2020 in Angewandte Chemie International Edition