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Updated: Jun 2, 2026

Electrophoretic Crystallization of Ultrathin High-performance Metal-organic Framework Membranes
Published on: August 16, 2018
Sulfur-Functionalized Hyper-Cross-Linked Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes with Enhanced Ethylene/Ethane Separation
Shuang Zhang1, Yongchao Sun1, Lu Bai1
1State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Frontier Science Center for Smart Materials, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
None:
Carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membranes are promising candidates for ethylene/ethane (C2H4/C2H6) separation, yet achieving simultaneously high C2H4 permeability and selectivity remains challenging. Here, a hyper-cross-linked strategy to fabricate high-performance CMS membranes by Friedel-Crafts alkylation of a sulfone-containing polyimide (6FDH), followed by controlled pyrolysis, is developed. Sulfur units originating from DSDA enhance molecular sieving via preferential interactions with C2H4, while decomposition of methylene bridge linkages generates additional micropore volume, leading to increased C2H4 permeability. Meanwhile, the hyper-cross-linked network improves carbon layer ordering and optimizes micropore size distribution, enabling concurrent improvements in permeability and selectivity. Consequently, the optimized 6FDH-X CMS-800 membrane exhibits a C2H4/C2H6 selectivity of 11.2 and a C2H4 permeability of 140.3 barrer, surpassing the latest upper bounds for polymeric and CMS membranes. This work provides a viable pathway for developing high-performance CMS membranes for industrial olefin/paraffin separations.
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