posted on 2024-02-01, 20:03authored byPengtao Guo, Yunpan Ying, Dahuan Liu
Separating
CH4 from coal bed methane is of great importance
but challenging. Adsorption-based separation often suffers from low
selectivity, poor stability, and difficulty to scale up. Herein, a
stable and scalable metal–organic framework [MOF, CoNi(pyz-NH2)] with multiple CH4 binding sites was reported
to efficiently separate the CH4/N2 mixture.
Due to its suitable pore size and multiple CH4 binding
sites, it exhibits excellent CH4/N2 selectivity
(16.5) and CH4 uptake (35.9 cm3/g) at 273 K
and 1 bar, which is comparable to that of the state-of-the-art MOFs.
Theoretical calculations reveal that the high density of open metal
sites and polar functional groups in the pores provide strong affinity
to CH4 than to N2. Moreover, CoNi(pyz-NH2) displays excellent structural stability and can be scale-up
synthesized (22.7 g). This work not only provides an excellent adsorbent
but also provides important inspiration for the future design and
preparation of porous adsorbents for separations.