MIL-101-Cr/Fe/Fe-NH for Efficient Separation of CH and CH from Simulated Natural Gas.

Adsorptive separation based on porous solid adsorbents has emerged as an excellent effective alternative to energy-intensive conventional separation methods in a low energy cost and high working capacity manner. However, there are few stable mesoporous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for efficient purification of methane from other light hydrocarbons in natural gas. Herein, we report a series of stable mesoporous MOFs, MIL-101-Cr/Fe/Fe-NH, for efficient separation of CH and CH from a ternary mixture CH/CH/CH. Experimental results show that all three MOFs possess excellent thermal, acid/basic, and hydrothermal stability. Single-component adsorption suggested that they have high CH adsorption capacity and commendable selectivity for CH and CH over CH. Transient breakthrough experiments further certified the ability of direct separation of CH from simulated natural gas and indirect recovery of CH from the packing column. Theoretical calculations illustrated that the van der Waals force proportional to the molecular weight is the key factor and that the structural integrity and defect can impact separation performances.