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Wiggling Mesopores Kinetically Amplify the Adsorptive Separation of Propylene/Propane
Author(s) -
Yuan YaFei,
Wang YongSheng,
Zhang XueLiang,
Li WenCui,
Hao GuangPing,
Han Lu,
Lu AnHui
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.202106523
Subject(s) - mesoporous material , propane , adsorption , selectivity , chemical engineering , materials science , carbon fibers , molecule , nanotechnology , chemistry , organic chemistry , catalysis , composite material , composite number , engineering
Abstract 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 m 2 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.