Moisture stability of ethane-selective Ni(II), Fe(III), Zr(IV)-based metal-organic frameworks

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) combined with selective adsorption capacity of ethane over ethylene and good moisture stability are highly urged by adsorption industrial community. Here, the moisture stability mechanism of Zr-bptc, UiO-66, PCN-245, and Ni(bdc)(ted)(0.5) were investigated by moisture stability experiments, and computational simulation of metal node-linker breaking energy caused by water. Results show that the moisture stability follows the order of Zr-bptc > UiO-66 > PCN-245 > Ni(bdc)(ted)(0.5). The different moisture stability for these MOFs is likely attributed to the bond strength between metal center and ligands, the coordination number of metal center, the hydrophobicity of framework, as well as the degree of interpenetrated framework. Additionally, comparing with ethylene-selective MOFs, ethane-selective MOFs have fewer coordinatively unsaturated metal sites. Breakthrough experiments indicated that Zr-bptc is the promising material for ethane/ethylene separation.