Ethylene and propylene are important raw chemicals that are in high demand. Methanol-to-olefins (MTO) is a promising alternative approach for producing ethylene from non-petroleum feedstocks, in which the separation of propylene/ethylene is particularly crucial. In this study, a metal azolate framework (MAF) [Zn7(μ-H2O)(tppa)4(HCOO)2] (MAF-68, where H3tppa = tris(4-(1-(tetrahydro-2H-pyran-2-yl)-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)phenyl)amine) has been synthesized with rare zinc pyrazolate chains comprising μ-H2O bridges, namely Zn7(μ-H2O)(Rpz)12(HCOO)2 (Rpz- denotes pyrazolate groups), for the separation of propylene/ethylene mixtures. Sorption experiments indicated that MAF-68 shows a remarkable uptake of 4.19 mmol g-1 for propylene (at 10 kPa), which is significantly higher than those of many other reported porous materials for C3H6/C2H4 separation. MAF-68 also shows a high selectivity of 9.5 for 2/5 C3H6/C2H4. Breakthrough experiments further confirm the separation potential of this material for high-purity C3H6 (99.9999%) and C2H4 (99.9999%).
Keywords: ethylene; gas separation; metal–organic framework; porous material; propylene.
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