INS Studies of inversed alkane and alkene separation by metal-organic frameworks

Global production of olefins currently exceeds that of any other chemicals. This process involves the cracking of long-chain hydrocarbons into short-chain (C1-C3) ones, with ethylene and propene being especially valuable to the polymer industry. The coexistence of olefins and paraffins with similar physical properties in the crude product are extremely challenging for their separation. The current technology replies heavily on cryogenic separation, which is extremely energy-intensive and causes nearly 2% of global CO2 emission. We have recently developed two ultramicroporous robust metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), namely Cu-DMP and Al-BTCA, which show highly unusual selective alkane adsorption (vs alkenes), a desired feature for practical applications. To gain insights into their exceptional separation capabilities, we request 5 days on TOSCA to investigate the host-guest interaction of C2 and C3 alkenes and alkanes within these MOFs via in situ inelastic neutron scattering technique to understand their unusual sorption selectivity.