Neutron Diffraction Studies of Metal-Organic Frameworks for Hydrocarbon Separations

Separation of light hydrocarbons is a highly challenging and energy-intensive industrial process. We seek to develop highly robust MOF materials as efficient sorbents for hydrocarbon separation and request 4 days on WISH to study the preferred binding sites and locations of adsorbed gas (CO2/C2D2/C2D4/C2D6/C3D6/C3D8) within a top-performing MOF, CALF-20. This proposed study will investigate the precise locations of light hydrocarbon molecules and CO2, defining the preferred orientation of molecules with respect to the binding sites in CALF-20. CALF-20 exhibits exceptionally high separation property for mixtures of CO2/C2H4, CO2/C2H2, C2H2/C2H4/C2H6 and C3H6/C3H8 at ambient conditions with fully repeatable cycles, suggesting the presence of specific guest-host interaction. The proposed study aims to reveal the nature of these interactions through structural insights into the pore .