One-step Ethylene Purification from an Acetylene/Ethylene/ Ethane Ternary Mixture by Cyclopentadiene Cobalt-Functionalized Metal-Organic Frameworks.

The separation of ethylene (C 2 H 4 ) from a mixture of ethane (C 2 H 6 ), ethylene (C 2 H 4 ), and acetylene (C 2 H 2 ) at normal temperature and pressure is a significant challenge. The sieving effect of pores is powerless due to the similar molecular size and kinetic diameter of these molecules. We report a new modification method based on a stable ftw topological Zr-MOF platform ( MOF-525 ). Introduction of a cyclopentadiene cobalt functional group led to new ftw-type MOFs materials ( UPC-612 and UPC-613 ), which increase the host-guest interaction and achieve efficient ethylene purification from the mixture of hydrocarbon gases. The high performance of UPC-612 and UPC-613 for C 2 H 2 /C 2 H 4 /C 2 H 6 separation has been verified by gas sorption isotherms, density functional theory (DFT), and experimentally determined breakthrough curves. This work provides a one-step separation of the ternary gas mixture and can further serve as a blueprint for the design and construction of function-oriented porous structures for such applications.