A Rod-Packing Hydrogen-Bonded Organic Framework with Suitable Pore Confinement for Benchmark Ethane/Ethylene Separation

Published

April 26, 2021

Author(s)

Xu Zhang, Jia-Xin Wang, Libo Li, Jiyan Pei, Rajamani Krishna, Hui Wu, Wei Zhou, Guodong Qian, Bin Li, Banglin Chen

Abstract

The discovery of new materials for separating ethane (C₂H₆) from ethylene (C₂H₄) by adsorption is a critical enterprise in the chemical industry. It still remains as a daunting challenge to target both high C₂H₆ adsorption capacity and gas selectivity in a single C₂H₆-selective material. Herein, we report a reversible solid-state transformation in a labile hydrogen-bonded organic framework to generate a new rod-packing desolvated framework (termed as ZJU-HOF-1a), leading to the suitable pore/cavity spaces (4.6 Å) and functional surfaces to optimally interact with C₂H₆. ZJU-HOF-1a thus exhibits an exceptionally preferential adsorption of C₂H₆ over C₂H₄ with simultaneously high C₂H₆ uptake (88 cm³ g^-1^ at 0.5 bar and 298 K) and C₂H₆/C₂H₄ selectivity (2.25), notably higher than HOF-76a and most of C₂H₆-selective materials. Theoretical calculations reveal that the suitable cage-like cavities and functional sites to synergistically "match" better with C₂H₆ molecule than C₂H₄ provide overall stronger multipoint interactions with C₂H₆. In combination with highly chemical stability and ultralow water uptake, this material can efficiently capture C₂H₆ from 50/50 (v/v) C₂H₆/C2H4 mixtures at ambient conditions under 60% relative humidity, providing a record polymer-grade C₂H₄ productivity of 21.9 L/kg, as evidenced through the experimental breakthrough curves.

Citation

Angewandte Chemie-International Edition

Volume

60

Issue

18

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

Porous material, Hydrogen bonding, Gas separation

Citation

Zhang, X. , Wang, J. , Li, L. , Pei, J. , Krishna, R. , Wu, H. , Zhou, W. , Qian, G. , Li, B. and Chen, B. (2021), A Rod-Packing Hydrogen-Bonded Organic Framework with Suitable Pore Confinement for Benchmark Ethane/Ethylene Separation, Angewandte Chemie-International Edition, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=932004 (Accessed October 11, 2025)