Wang Hao, Liu Yunling, Li Jing
Hoffmann Institute of Advanced Materials, Shenzhen Polytechnic, 7098 Liuxian Boulevard, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, China.
State Key Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis & Preparative Chemistry, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Street, Changchun, 130012, China.
Adv Mater. 2020 Nov;32(44):e2002603. doi: 10.1002/adma.202002603. Epub 2020 Jul 9.
The separation of hydrocarbons is of primary importance in the petrochemical industry but remains a challenging process. Hydrocarbon separations have traditionally relied predominantly on costly and energy-intensive heat-driven procedures such as low-temperature distillations. Adsorptive separation based on porous solids represents an alternative technology that is potentially more energy efficient for the separation of some hydrocarbons. Great efforts have been made recently not only in the development of adsorbents with optimal separation performance but also toward the subsequent implementation of adsorption-based separation technology. Emerging as a relatively new class of multifunctional porous materials, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) hold substantial promise as adsorbents for highly efficient separation of hydrocarbons. This is because of their exceptional and intrinsic porosity tunability, which enables size-exclusion-based separations that render the highest possible separation selectivity. In this review, recent advances in the development of MOFs for separation of selected groups of hydrocarbons are reviewed, including methane/C hydrocarbons, normal alkanes, alkane isomers, and alkane/alkene/alkyne and C alkylaromatics, with a particular focus on separations based on the size-exclusion mechanism. Insights into tailor-made structures, material design strategies, and structure-property relationships will be elucidated. In addition, the existing challenges and possible future directions of this important research field will be discussed.
烃类的分离在石油化学工业中至关重要，但仍然是一个具有挑战性的过程。传统上，烃类分离主要依赖于成本高昂且能源密集型的热驱动程序，如低温蒸馏。基于多孔固体的吸附分离是一种替代技术，对于某些烃类的分离可能更具能源效率。最近，不仅在开发具有最佳分离性能的吸附剂方面做出了巨大努力，而且在基于吸附的分离技术的后续实施方面也付出了诸多努力。作为一类相对较新的多功能多孔材料，金属有机框架（MOF）作为高效分离烃类的吸附剂具有巨大潜力。这是因为它们具有特殊且固有的孔隙率可调性，能够实现基于尺寸排阻的分离，从而实现尽可能高的分离选择性。在这篇综述中，我们回顾了用于分离特定烃类组的MOF开发的最新进展，包括甲烷/C烃类、正构烷烃、烷烃异构体以及烷烃/烯烃/炔烃和C烷基芳烃，特别关注基于尺寸排阻机制的分离。将阐明对定制结构、材料设计策略以及结构-性能关系的见解。此外，还将讨论这一重要研究领域目前存在的挑战和可能的未来发展方向。
