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The separation of ethane from its corresponding ethylene is a very important challenging and energy-intensive process in the chemical industry. Herein we report a microporous metal-organic framework Fe2(O2)(dobdc) (dobdc4-: 2,5-dioxido-1,4-benzenedicarboxylate) with Fe-peroxo sites for the preferential binding of ethane over ethylene and thus highly selective separation of C2H6/C2H4. Neutron powder diffraction studies and theoretical calculations demonstrate the key role of E-peroxo sites for the recognition of ethane. The high performance of Fe2(O6d2^)(dobdc) for the ethane/ethylene separation has been validated by gas sorption isotherms, ideal adsorbed solution theory calculations, simulated and experimental breakthrough curves. Through a fixed-bed column packed with this porous material, polymer-grade of ethylene (99.99%) can be straightforwardly produced from ethane/ethylene mixtures during the first adsorption cycle, demonstrating its enormous potential for this very important industrial separation with low energy cost at ambient conditions.
Li, L.
, Lin, R.
, Krishna, R.
, Li, H.
, Xiang, S.
, Wu, H.
, Li, J.
, Zhou, W.
and Chen, B.
(2018),
Ethane/Ethylene Separation in a Metal-Organic Framework with Iron-Peroxo Sites, Science/AAAS, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=926720
(Accessed October 10, 2025)