Efficient adsorptive separation of propene over propane through a pillar‐layer cobalt‐based metal–organic framework

Abstract

AbstractThe purification of propene from the propene/propane binary mixture is one of the most important and challenging separation processes in the chemical industry. In this study, a cobalt‐based pillar‐layer metal–organic framework, Co(AIP)(BPY)0.5, was synthesized. It exhibited excellent water and moisture stability and efficient C3H6/C3H8 separation performance. At 298 K and 100 kPa, the adsorption capacity of C3H6 was 1.99 mmol/g and the IAST adsorption selectivity was 21, which has exceeded most investigated MOFs adsorbents. The cyclic breakthrough experiments of C3H6/C3H8 binary mixture confirmed its efficient dynamic separation property and excellent recyclability. The molecular simulation showed that the C3H8 molecules with multiple binding sites (C─H) were restricted at the middle of the one‐dimensional channel. Compared with C3H6, the large steric hindrance of C3H8 caused lower diffusion rate (with a C3H6/C3H8 kinetic selectivity of 29.7, at 303 K) in the narrow pore system of 1, which has been confirmed by the kinetic adsorption experiments.