Cu-impregnated metal-organic frameworks for separation and recovery of CO from blast furnace gas

Abstract The separation and recovery of carbon monoxide (CO) from blast furnace gas (BFG) mixtures is an important issue, as CO is a key substance in the petrochemical industry. We developed a series of Cu(I)-impregnated MIL-100(Fe) (Cu(x)@MIL-100(Fe)) with varied Cu loadings through a facile Cu(I)-loading method that does not require high-temperature thermal treatment. Among these, we found that Cu(0.5)@MIL-100(Fe) is the optimal material, with a high CO/CO2 selectivity (15.4) and large working capacity (0.38 mmol/g). This material showed very high CO/CO2, CO/N2, and CO/H2 selectivities (33.3, 106.4, and 98.4, respectively) for gas mixtures with a typical BFG composition, excellent CO separation from a simulated BFG mixture (CO/CO2/N2/H2 = 22:20:55:3 vol.%) under dynamic flow conditions, and reasonable air stability. These results show that Cu(0.5)@MIL-100(Fe) is an efficient adsorbent for the recovery of CO from BFG.