Study on adsorption performance of different adsorbents in nitrogen/methane separation

Equilibrium adsorbed amount and selectivity of adsorbents are investigated using the Ideal Adsorption Solution Theory (IAST) to determine suitable adsorbents for nitrogen/methane separation. The results revealed that among the nitrogen selective adsorbents, Sr-ETS-4 has the highest nitrogen/methane selectivity and among the selective adsorbents toward methane, CMS-3 K and Cu-MOF have the highest adsorbed amount and selectivity, respectively. It was found that MOFs have great potential for methane adsorption and separation. However, carbon-based adsorbents have the highest adsorption capacity for methane. Finally, a novel trade-off plot of adsorbed amount versus selectivity was constructed as a simple guide for researchers and industrial applications.