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Updated: Jan 29, 2026

Spatial Separation of Molecular Conformers and Clusters
Published on: January 9, 2014
Conformation-Controlled Molecular Sieving Effects for Membrane-Based Propylene/Propane Separation
Yang Liu1, Zhijie Chen2, Gongping Liu1
1School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA, 30332-0100, USA.
Abstract:
Membrane-based separation is poised to reduce the operation cost of propylene/propane separation; however, identifying a suitable molecular sieve for membrane development is still an ongoing challenge. Here, the successful identification and use of a metal-organic framework (MOF) material as fillers, namely, the Zr-fum-fcu-MOF possessing an optimal contracted triangular pore-aperture driving the efficient diffusive separation of propylene from propane in mixed-matrix membranes are reported. It is demonstrated that the fabricated hybrid membranes display a high propylene/propane separation performance, far beyond the current trade-off limit of polymer membranes with excellent properties under industrial conditions. Most importantly, the mechanism behind the exceptional high propylene/propane selectivity is delineated by exploring theoretically the efficiency of sieving of different conformers of propane through the hypothesized triangular rigid pore-aperture of Zr-fum-fcu-MOF.
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