Nature Communications (Mar 2024)

Molecular sieving of iso-butene from C4 olefins with simultaneous high 1,3-butadiene and n-butene uptakes

  • Junhui Liu,
  • Hanting Xiong,
  • Hua Shuai,
  • Xing Liu,
  • Yong Peng,
  • Lingmin Wang,
  • Pengxiang Wang,
  • Zhiwei Zhao,
  • Zhenning Deng,
  • Zhenyu Zhou,
  • Jingwen Chen,
  • Shixia Chen,
  • Zheling Zeng,
  • Shuguang Deng,
  • Jun Wang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46607-y
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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Abstract Iso-butene (iso-C4H8) is an important raw material in chemical industry, whereas its efficient separation remains challenging due to similar molecular properties of C4 olefins. The ideal adsorbent should possess simultaneous high uptakes for 1,3-butadiene (C4H6) and n-butene (n-C4H8) counterparts, endowing high efficiency for iso-C4H8 separation in adsorption columns. Herein, a sulfate-pillared adsorbent, SOFOUR-DPDS-Ni (DPDS = 4,4′-dipyridyldisulfide), is reported for the efficient iso-C4H8 separation from binary and ternary C4 olefin mixtures. The rigidity in pore sizes and shapes of SOFOUR-DPDS-Ni exerts the molecular sieving of iso-C4H8, while exhibiting high C4H6 and n-C4H8 uptakes. The benchmark Henry’s selectivity for C4H6/iso-C4H8 (2321.8) and n-C4H8/iso-C4H8 (233.5) outperforms most reported adsorbents. Computational simulations reveal the strong interactions for C4H6 and n-C4H8. Furthermore, dynamic breakthrough experiments demonstrate the direct production of high-purity iso-C4H8 (>99.9%) from C4H6/iso-C4H8 (50/50, v/v), n-C4H8/iso-C4H8 (50/50, v/v), and C4H6/n-C4H8/iso-C4H8 (50/15/35, v/v/v) gas-mixtures.