Chemical Research in Chinese Universities ›› 2024, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (4): 675-681.doi: 10.1007/s40242-024-4125-2

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A Scalable Pillar Layered Metal-Organic Framework for Natural Gas Purification

LU Nan1, LAN Lan1, GAO Qiang3, LI Na2, BU Xian-He1,2   

  1. 1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, P. R. China;
    2. State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, P. R. China;
    3. School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212003, P. R. China
  • Received:2024-05-15 Online:2024-08-01 Published:2024-07-24
  • Contact: LI Na,lina@nankai.edu.cn;BU Xian-He,buxh@nankai.edu.cn E-mail:lina@nankai.edu.cn;buxh@nankai.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 22035003, 22371139, 22305130) and the Programme of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities, China (No. B18030).

Abstract: One-step harvest of high-purity methane (CH4) from ternary propane/ethane/methane (C3H8/C2H6/CH4) mixtures remains a desirable yet challenging goal for natural gas purification. However, adsorbents either suffer from high capacity and selectivity, or are caught in a dilemma of scalable synthesis. Herein, we demonstrate a scalable pillar layered metal-organic framework Ni-MOF for highly efficient one-step CH4 purification. Ni-MOF exhibits high C2H6 and C3H8 uptakes of 83.3 and 86.1 cm3/g at 298 K and 100 kPa and remarkable C2H6/CH4 (50/50, volume ratio, 21.5) and C3H8/CH4 (50/50, volume ratio, 212.0) selectivities. Notably, high C2H6 (42.2 cm3/g at 10 kPa) and C3H8 (64.7 cm3/g at 5 kPa) capacities in the low-pressure region at 298 K were realized on Ni-MOF, suggesting the strong affinities of Ni-MOF towards C2H6 and C3H8. Furthermore, the dynamic breakthrough experiments revealed that purifying CH4 from natural gas in one-step can be achieved in Ni-MOF with high-purity (>99.8%) and productivity (346.0 cm3/g). Most significantly, the production of Ni-MOF can be scalably synthesized at room temperature, rendering it promising potential for industrial application. The combined advantages of exceptional separation performance, scalability, and cycle stability of Ni-MOF pave the way for one-step CH4 purification from natural gas.

Key words: Metal-organic framework, Adsorption and separation, Natural gas purification, Scale-up synthesis