Stable titanium metal-organic framework with strong binding affinity for ethaneremoval

Direct separation of high purity ethylene(C_(2)H_(4))from an ethane(C_(2)H_(6))/ethylene mixture is a critical and challenging task owing to the very similar molecular size and physical properties of the two components.While some studies have attempted this separation,there is a lack of excellent porous materials with strong binding affinity for C_(2)H_(6)-selective adsorption via an energy-efficient adsorptive separation process.Herein,we report a titanium metal-organic framework with strong binding affinity and excellent stability for the highly efficient removal of C_(2)H_(6) from C_(2)H_(6)/C_(2)H_(4) mixtures.Single component adsorption isotherms demonstrated a larger amount of adsorbed ethane(1.16 mmol·g^(-1) under 1 kPa)and high C_(2)H_(6)/C_(2)H_(4) selectivity(2.7)for equimolar C_(2)H_(6)/C_(2)H_(4) mixtures,especially in the low-pressure range,which is further confirmed by the results of grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations for C_(2)H_(6) adsorption in this framework.The experimental breakthrough curves showed that C_(2)H_(4) with a high purity was collected directly from both 1:9 and 1:15 C_(2)H_(6)/C_(2)H_(4)(volume ratio)mixtures at 298 K and 100 kPa.Moreover,the unchanged adsorption and separation performance after cycling experiments confirmed the promising applicability of this material in future.