Exploiting the pore size and functionalization effects in UiO topology structures for the separation of light hydrocarbons

In this work, a series of UiO topology structures were synthesized by choosing the same metal-containing clusters with variable length and functional group/site organic linkers, which provided a systematic platform to explore the pore size and functionalization effects on the adsorption and separation of light hydrocarbons. Based on the adsorption and separation experiments, it can be concluded that alkane mixtures CH4/C2H6/C3H8 showed better separation results in the larger pore channels found in UiO-67, Zr-NDC and UiO-66. In addition, functionalization in the pores indicated that the C2H2/C2H4 mixtures can be separated using BUT-11 due to the strong interactions between the C2H2 molecules and the sulfone groups present in the material.