Multiple Functions of Gas Separation and Vapor Adsorption in a New MOF with Open Tubular Channels.

Separation or purification is one of the difficult problems in the petrochemical industry. To help solve the difficulty of separation or purification for CH/CO and CH/CH in the chemical industry, we synthesized a new metal-organic framework (MOF), [Ni(dpip)]·2.5DMF·HO (), by a bipyridyl-substituted isophthalic acid ligand. The MOF includes two types of one-dimensional (1D) tubular channels with different sizes and porous environments. The unique tubular channels lead to not only remarkable gas sorption capacity of CH, CH, and CO, but also good selectivity for CH/CH, CH/CH, CO/CH, and CH/CO, as demonstrated by single-component sorption isotherm results, ideal adsorbed solution theory calculations, and dynamic breakthrough curves. Grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulation reveals preferential adsorption sites in the MOF for CO, CH, and CH. The MOF also exhibits an obvious size-selective absorption effect on vapor molecules.