Wiggling Mesopores Kinetically Amplify the Adsorptive Separation of Propylene/Propane

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie International Edition Vol. 60; no. 35; pp. 19063 - 19067
• Main Authors: Yuan, Ya‐Fei, Wang, Yong‐Sheng, Zhang, Xue‐Liang, Li, Wen‐Cui, Hao, Guang‐Ping, Han, Lu, Lu, An‐Hui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 23.08.2021
• Edition: International ed. in English
• Subjects: Adsorbents; adsorption separation; Adsorptivity; C3H6/C3H8 separation; Carbon; carbon monoliths; Dynamic stability; Pore size; Pore size distribution; Propane; Propylene; Selectivity; self-assembly; Separation; Size distribution; wiggling mesoporous carbons
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.202106523

Adsorptive separation is an appealing technology for propylene and propane separation; however, the challenge lies in the design of efficient adsorbents which can distinguish the two molecules having very similar properties. Here we report a kinetically amplified separation by creating wiggling mesopores in structurally robust carbon monoliths. The wiggling mesopores with alternating wide and narrow segments afford a surface area of 413 m2 g−1 and a tri‐modal pore size distribution centered at 1.5, 4.2 and 6.6 nm, respectively. The synergistically kinetic and equilibrium effects were observed and quantitatively assessed, which together ensured a remarkable propylene/propane selectivity up to 39. This selectivity outperformed not only the available carbon adsorbents but also highly competitive among the dominated crystalline porous adsorbents. In addition, the wiggling mesoporous carbon adsorbent showed excellent dynamical separation stability, which ensured its great potential in practical molecular separations. Wiggling mesopores in monolithic carbon adsorbents lead to synergistic kinetic and equilibrium effects, allowing highly selective C3H6/C3H8 separation under practical dynamic conditions.