Electro‐field alignment in a novel metal–organic framework for benchmark separation of ethylene from a ternary gas mixture

Abstract One‐step separation of C 2 H 4 from ternary gas mixtures containing acetylene (C 2 H 2 ), ethylene (C 2 H 4 ), and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) represents a great challenge in chemical industry. Herein, we report the electro‐field alignment in a novel anion‐pillared MOF (SIFSIX‐TEPE‐Cu) for benchmark C 2 H 4 separation from C 2 H 2 /CO 2 /C 2 H 4 gas mixtures. The semi‐cage cavities featuring capped facets generated negative potentials along anion pillars and compensatory positive‐charged electro‐fields along organic ligands (TEPE) that facilitate specific recognitions of C 2 H 2 and CO 2 over C 2 H 4 . As a result, SIFSIX‐TEPE‐Cu exhibits high adsorption capacities for C 2 H 2 (123 cm 3 g −1 ) and CO 2 (65 cm 3 g −1 ) at 1.0 bar and 298 K. Notably, the record‐high C 2 H 2 uptake (78 cm 3 g −1 ) at 0.01 bar and remarkable C 2 H 2 /C 2 H 4 selectivity (615.2) renders benchmark trace C 2 H 2 removal ability. Dynamic breakthrough experiments demonstrate the benchmark productivity for high‐purity C 2 H 4 (>99.995%) of 194.7 mol kg −1 and 5.96 mol kg −1 from binary C 2 H 2 /C 2 H 4 (1/99, v/v ) and ternary C 2 H 2 /CO 2 /C 2 H 4 (1/9/90, v/v/v ) gas mixtures.