Neutron Powder Diffraction Studies of Decorated Zeolites for Alkyne/Alkene Separations

Efficient removal of alkyne impurities for the production of polymer-grade lower olefins remains an important and challenging target for many industries. We seek to develop highly stable decorated zeolites as efficient alkyne/alkene separation materials and request 3 days on WISH to study the binding sites of adsorbed hydrocarbon molecules (C2D2/C2D4/C3D4/C3D6) within two best-performing zeolites, M@FAU (M=Ni, Cu). This proposal will investigate the locations of hydrocarbon molecules, defining the preferred orientation of molecules with respect to the active Ni/Cu sites. Under ambient conditions, Ni@FAU shows exceptional adsorption of alkynes and efficient separations of acetylene/ethylene and propyne/propylene mixtures with unprecedented separation selectivities of 100 and 92, respectively. The proposed study aims to reveal the nature of this interaction.