Microporous Zinc Formate for Efficient Separation of Acetylene over Carbon Dioxide

Separation of acetylene(C₂H₂) from carbon dioxide(CO₂) by adsorbents is very challenging owing to their high similarity on molecular shape and dimension. Exploring inexpensive and easily available porous materials is of importance to facilitate the practical implementation of the challenging but energy-efficient separation. Herein, we utilize an easily available porous materialZn₃(HCOO)₆] for the selective separation of C₂H₂ over CO₂. Because of the pore confinement inZn₃(HCOO)₆](pore size of 0.47 nm) and accessible oxygen sites for preferential binding of C₂H₂, this material exhibits high low-pressure uptake for C₂H₂(63 cm³/cm³ at 10 kPa and 298 K) and high C₂H₂/CO₂ selectivity(7.4 under ambient conditions) that is comparable to those of out-performing porous materials. The efficient separation ofZn₃(HCOO)₆] for C₂H₂/CO₂ mixture has also been confirmed by the breakthrough experiments.