Volume 133, Issue 29 pp. 16131-16138
Forschungsartikel

Benchmark C2H2/CO2 Separation in an Ultra-Microporous Metal–Organic Framework via Copper(I)-Alkynyl Chemistry

Dr. Ling Zhang

Dr. Ling Zhang

State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Cyrus Tang Center for Sensor Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Zheda Road #38, Hangzhou, 310027 China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Dr. Ke Jiang

Dr. Ke Jiang

State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Cyrus Tang Center for Sensor Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Zheda Road #38, Hangzhou, 310027 China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Dr. Lifeng Yang

Dr. Lifeng Yang

College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Zheda Road #38, Hangzhou, 310027 China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Prof. Libo Li

Prof. Libo Li

Shanxi Key Laboratory of Gas Energy Efficient and Clean Utilization, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, 030024 Shanxi, China

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Dr. Enlai Hu

Dr. Enlai Hu

State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Cyrus Tang Center for Sensor Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Zheda Road #38, Hangzhou, 310027 China

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Dr. Ling Yang

Dr. Ling Yang

Shanxi Key Laboratory of Gas Energy Efficient and Clean Utilization, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, 030024 Shanxi, China

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Dr. Kai Shao

Dr. Kai Shao

State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Cyrus Tang Center for Sensor Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Zheda Road #38, Hangzhou, 310027 China

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Prof. Huabin Xing

Prof. Huabin Xing

College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Zheda Road #38, Hangzhou, 310027 China

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Prof. Yuanjing Cui

Prof. Yuanjing Cui

State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Cyrus Tang Center for Sensor Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Zheda Road #38, Hangzhou, 310027 China

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Prof. Yu Yang

Prof. Yu Yang

State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Cyrus Tang Center for Sensor Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Zheda Road #38, Hangzhou, 310027 China

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Prof. Bin Li

Corresponding Author

Prof. Bin Li

State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Cyrus Tang Center for Sensor Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Zheda Road #38, Hangzhou, 310027 China

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Prof. Banglin Chen

Corresponding Author

Prof. Banglin Chen

Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX, 78249-0698 USA

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Prof. Guodong Qian

Corresponding Author

Prof. Guodong Qian

State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Cyrus Tang Center for Sensor Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Zheda Road #38, Hangzhou, 310027 China

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First published: 12 May 2021
Citations: 40

Abstract

Separation of acetylene from carbon dioxide remains a daunting challenge because of their very similar molecular sizes and physical properties. We herein report the first example of using copper(I)-alkynyl chemistry within an ultra-microporous MOF (CuI@UiO-66-(COOH)2) to achieve ultrahigh C2H2/CO2 separation selectivity. The anchored CuI ions on the pore surfaces can specifically and strongly interact with C2H2 molecule through copper(I)-alkynyl π-complexation and thus rapidly adsorb large amount of C2H2 at low-pressure region, while effectively reduce CO2 uptake due to the small pore sizes. This material thus exhibits the record high C2H2/CO2 selectivity of 185 at ambient conditions, significantly higher than the previous benchmark ZJU-74a (36.5) and ATC-Cu (53.6). Theoretical calculations reveal that the unique π-complexation between CuI and C2H2 mainly contributes to the ultra-strong C2H2 binding affinity and record selectivity. The exceptional separation performance was evidenced by breakthrough experiments for C2H2/CO2 gas mixtures. This work suggests a new perspective to functionalizing MOFs with copper(I)-alkynyl chemistry for highly selective separation of C2H2 over CO2.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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