Content:
peer-reviewed ; Separation of hydrocarbons (HCs) is industrially relevant thanks to their widespread utility in the petrochemical industry but remains a challenge because of the similar physicochemical properties of the components of important gas mixtures such as those produced during manufacture of C2 and C3 HCs. Technologies to separate such HCs currently rely upon energy-intensive separations such as cryogenic distillation, chemisorption, or solvent extraction. Physisorbents offer the potential to enable energy-efficient adsorptive separation technologies for purification of HCs and there is a growing activity in this area. In this context, metal-organic materials (MOMs), including metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and porous coordination polymers (PCPs), have emerged as leading candidates for addressing energy-efficient gas/vapour/liquid separations such as C2H2/CO2, C2H2/C2H4, C3H4/C3H6, C8 aromatic isomers etc. Crystal engineering, the field of chemistry that studies the design, properties, and applications of crystals, has evolved from a focus upon the design of new crystalline materials and their properties to an emphasis upon creating the right materials for the right applications. MOMs that are amenable to crystal engineering are important in this context as they offer a means of precise control over pore size/chemistry and they have recently emerged as benchmark physisorbents for separating HCs. Herein, we address structure-property relationships with respect to HC adsorption in two subclasses of MOMs, layered square lattice (sql) coordination networks and hybrid ultramicroporous materials (HUMs, also known as inorganic linker pillared sql networks). Chapter 1 reviews the importance of separating small molecules of industrial relevance, especially C1-C8 HCs. Herein, present, and emerging technologies for HCs' separation and purification, contextualizing their energy efficiency and regenerability are reviewed comprehensively. Adsorptive separation based on physisorbents, an alternative technology that ...
Note:
Dissertation University of Limerick 2021
Language:
English
