Issue 11, 2018

A microporous metal–organic framework with commensurate adsorption and highly selective separation of xenon

Abstract

The separation of xenon (Xe) and krypton (Kr) becomes increasingly important due to the industrial significance of high-purity Xe gas and the concern with reprocessing radioactive isotopes of Xe and Kr at parts per million concentrations from the off-gas of used nuclear fuel. Current separation processes mainly rely on energy and capital intensive cryogenic distillation. Thus, more economical and energy-efficient alternatives, such as physisorptive separation, using porous materials are needed to be developed. Herein, we present a microporous metal–organic framework (MOF-Cu-H) in which the suitable pore/cage-like structure with a precise size matching with the xenon atom leads to its commensurate adsorption phenomenon of Xe under ambient conditions and superior performance for Xe capture and separation. MOF-Cu-H exhibits by far the highest Xe Henry coefficient, remarkable Xe/Kr selectivity and significantly high Xe adsorption capacity at very low partial pressures relevant to nuclear fuel reprocessing. Temperature dependent isotherms, adsorption kinetics experiments, single column breakthrough curves and molecular simulation studies collaboratively support the claim, underlining the potential of this material for energy and cost-effective removal of xenon from nuclear fuel reprocessing plants compared with cryogenic distillation.

Graphical abstract: A microporous metal–organic framework with commensurate adsorption and highly selective separation of xenon

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 Dec 2017
Accepted
07 Feb 2018
First published
07 Feb 2018

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018,6, 4752-4758

A microporous metal–organic framework with commensurate adsorption and highly selective separation of xenon

S. Xiong, Y. Gong, S. Hu, X. Wu, W. Li, Y. He, B. Chen and X. Wang, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018, 6, 4752 DOI: 10.1039/C7TA11321H

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements