Microporous Fluorinated MOF with Multiple Adsorption Sites for Efficient Recovery of C 2 H 6 and C 3 H 8 from Natural Gas.

Purifying C 2 H 6 /C 3 H 8 from a ternary natural gas mixture through adsorption separation is an important but challenging process in the petrochemical industry. To address this challenge, the industry is exploring effective strategies for designing high-performance adsorbents. In this study, we present two metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), DMOF-TF and DMOF-(CF 3 ) 2 , which have fluorinated pores obtained by substituting linker ligands in the host material. This pore engineering strategy not only provides suitable pore confinement but also enhances the adsorption capacities for C 2 H 6 /C 3 H 8 by providing additional binding sites. Theoretical calculations and transient breakthrough experiments show that the introduction of F atoms not only improves the efficiency of natural gas separation but also provides multiple adsorption sites for C 2 H 6 /C 3 H 8 -framework interactions.