Ethane/Ethylene Separations in Flexible Diamondoid Coordination Networks via an Ethane-Induced Gate-Opening Mechanism

Separating ethane (C2H6) from ethylene (C2H4) is an essential and energy-intensive process in the chemical industry. Here, we report two flexible diamondoid coordination networks, X-dia-1-Ni and X-dia-1-Ni 0.89 Co 0.11 , that exhibit gate-opening between narrow-pore (NP) and large-pore (LP) phases for C2H6, but not for C2H4. X-dia-1-Ni 0.89 Co 0.11 thereby exhibited a type F–IV isotherm at 273 K with no C2H6 uptake and a high uptake (111 cm3 g–1, 1 atm) for the NP and LP phases, respectively. Conversely, the LP phase exhibited a low uptake of C2H4 (12.2 cm3 g–1). This C2H6/C2H4 uptake ratio of 9.1 for X-dia-1-Ni 0.89 Co 0.11 far surpassed those of previously reported physisorbents, many of which are C2H4-selective. In situ variable-pressure X-ray diffraction and modeling studies provided insight into the abrupt C2H6-induced structural NP to LP transformation. The promise of pure gas isotherms and, more generally, flexible coordination networks for gas separations was validated by dynamic breakthrough studies, which afforded high-purity (99.9%) C2H4 in one step.