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Separation of Amyl Alcohol Isomers in ZIF-77
Rocio Bueno-Perez1, Juan J Gutiérrez-Sevillano1, David Dubbeldam2
1Department of Physical, Chemical and Natural Systems, University Pablo de Olavide, Ctra. Utrera, km. 1, 41013 Seville (Spain).
Abstract:
The separation of pentanol isomer mixtures is shown to be very efficient using the nanoporous adsorbent zeolitic imidazolate framework ZIF-77. Through molecular simulations, we demonstrate that this material achieves a complete separation of linear from monobranched-and these from dibranched-isomers. Remarkably, the adsorption and diffusion behaviors follow the same decreasing trend, produced by the channel size of ZIF-77 and the guest shape. This separation based on molecular branching applies to alkanes and alcohols and promises to encompass numerous other functional groups.
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