Mesoporous Hydrophobic Polymeric Organic Frameworks with Bound Surfactants. Selective Adsorption of C2H6 versus CH4

Mesoporous polymeric organic frameworks (mesoPOF)s have been synthesized through surfactant mediated polymerization of phlorglucinol (1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene) and terephthalaldehyde under solvothermal conditions. The materials contain bound surfactant and exhibit hydrophobic properties. The mesoPOFs present high surface areas up to 1000 m(2) g(-1) and have pores of several size ranges from micropores to large mesopores depending on the amount of surfactant used. The adsorption uptakes of CO2, C2H6, and CH4 measured at 273 K at 1 bar are linearly correlated to the micropore volume. The mesoPOFs display high adsorption selectivity of C2H6 over CH4 by a factor of 40, and this property is dictated by their pore diameter.