An ultramicroporous metal-organic framework with multiple supramolecular binding sites for efficient natural gas and MTO products separation

Abstract

Purification of natural gas and separation of methanol-to-olefins (MTO) products are essential yet energy-intensive processes in petrochemical industry. Adsorption separation utilizing porous materials is regarded as an energy-efficient alternative to traditional distillation method for hydrocarbon separation. In this work, we presented a comprehensive investigation of an ultramicroporous MOF (PCP-TPDA), which features multiple supramolecular binding sites for the separate natural gas and MTO products. The single-component gas adsorption results indicate that PCP-TPDA can preferentially trap larger size alkane molecules than CH₄ and separate effectively C₃H₆ from C₂H₄. Furthermore, breakthrough experiments validated the actual feasibility of purifying natural gas and MTO products over PCP-TPDA. Additionally, computational simulations revealed the pivotal roles of narrow channels and multiple supramolecular binding sites for separation performance.