A Water-Resistant Hydrogen-Bonded Organic Framework for Ethane/Ethylene Separation in Humid Environments

The separation of ethane (C2H6) and ethylene (C2H4) represents a crucial process for the production of polymer-grade C2H4, and adsorptive separation holds enormous promise for this industrially important but challenging task. Here, we report a new hydrogen-bonded organic framework (HIAM-102) with suitable channel and superhydrophobicity for preferential adsorption of C2H6 over C2H4. HIAM-102 shows a C2H6/C2H4 IAST selectivity of 1.9 and C2H6 uptake of 48.25 cm3/g at 1 bar and 298 K. Benefitting from the hydrophobic pore surface, it can well-separate C2H6 and C2H4 under highly humid conditions, as confirmed by experimental column breakthrough measurements. Computational calculations provide additional support for the experimental observations that the nonpolar channel of HIAM-102 interact favorably with C2H6 over C2H4.