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Nano Research 2023, 16(2): 3287-3293 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4915-0
Research Article | Issue | Published: 02 September 2022

Th-MOF showing six-fold imide-sealed pockets for middle-size-separation of propane from natural gas

Show Author's Information Li Wang1,  Wenhui Zhang1,  Jie Ding1,  Lele Gong1,  Rajamani Krishna2,  Youyuan Ran1,  Lan Chen1,  Feng Luo1( )
Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Synthetic Chemistry, School of Chemistry, Biology and Material Science, East China University of Technology, Nanchang 330013, China
Van’t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Keywords:
selectivity, natural gas, Th-metal-organic framework (MOF), intermediate-size-separation
Topics:
Organic frameworks
Cite this article:
Wang L, Zhang W, Ding J, et al. Th-MOF showing six-fold imide-sealed pockets for middle-size-separation of propane from natural gas. Nano Research, 2023, 16(2): 3287-3293. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4915-0
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Separation of propane from natural gas is of great importance to industry. However, in light of size-based separation, there still lacks effective method to directly separate propane from natural gas, due to the comparable physical properties for these light alkanes (C1–C4) and the middle size of propane. In this work, we found that a new Th-metal-organic framework (MOF) could be an ideal solution for this issue. The Th-MOF takes UiO-66-type structure, but with the pocket sealed by six-fold imide groups; this not only precisely reduces the size of pocket to exactly match propane, but also enhances the host–guest interactions through multiple (C)H(δ+)∙∙∙(δ−)O(C) interactions. As a result, highly selective adsorption of propane over methane, ethane, and butane was observed, implying unique middle-size separation. The actual separation was confirmed by breakthrough experiments of simulated natural gas, confirming its superior application in direct separation of propane from natural gas. The separation mechanism, as unveiled by both theoretical calculation and comparative experiments, is due to the six-fold imide-sealed pocket that could effectively distinguish propane from other light alkanes through both size effect and host–guest interactions.


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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

Th-MOF showing six-fold imide-sealed pockets for middle-size-separation of propane from natural gas

Show Author's information Li Wang1, Wenhui Zhang1, Jie Ding1, Lele Gong1, Rajamani Krishna2, Youyuan Ran1, Lan Chen1, Feng Luo1( )
Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Synthetic Chemistry, School of Chemistry, Biology and Material Science, East China University of Technology, Nanchang 330013, China
Van’t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Abstract

Separation of propane from natural gas is of great importance to industry. However, in light of size-based separation, there still lacks effective method to directly separate propane from natural gas, due to the comparable physical properties for these light alkanes (C1–C4) and the middle size of propane. In this work, we found that a new Th-metal-organic framework (MOF) could be an ideal solution for this issue. The Th-MOF takes UiO-66-type structure, but with the pocket sealed by six-fold imide groups; this not only precisely reduces the size of pocket to exactly match propane, but also enhances the host–guest interactions through multiple (C)H(δ+)∙∙∙(δ−)O(C) interactions. As a result, highly selective adsorption of propane over methane, ethane, and butane was observed, implying unique middle-size separation. The actual separation was confirmed by breakthrough experiments of simulated natural gas, confirming its superior application in direct separation of propane from natural gas. The separation mechanism, as unveiled by both theoretical calculation and comparative experiments, is due to the six-fold imide-sealed pocket that could effectively distinguish propane from other light alkanes through both size effect and host–guest interactions.

Keywords: selectivity, natural gas, Th-metal-organic framework (MOF), intermediate-size-separation

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 17 June 2022
Revised: 30 July 2022
Accepted: 16 August 2022
Published: 02 September 2022
Issue date: February 2023

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2022

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

We thank the Open Fund of Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Synthetic Chemistry (No. JXSC202007), the Foundation of Jiangxi Educational Committee (No. GJJ200734), the Doctoral Scientific Research Start-up Foundation of East China University of Technology (No. DHBK2018044), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21966002 and 21871047), the Training Program for Academic and Technical Leaders of Major Disciplines in Jiangxi Province (No. 20194BCJ22010), the Fuzhou Youth Leading Talent Project (No. 2020ED64), and the Provincial College Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program (No. S202110405026).

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