Selective adsorption of propene over propane on Li-decorated poly (triazine imide)

Solid adsorbents that simultaneously have high selectivity and uptake capacity are highly promising as alternatives to conventional cryogenic distillation of propene/propane (C3H6/C3H8) separation. Coordinatively unsaturated metal sites (CUS) plays a vital role in selective adsorption of olefins over paraffins. Ultrathin poly (triazine imide) (PTI) nanosheets can reach rapid gas adsorption equilibrium, due to its large surface-to-volume ratio. In this work, combining the advantages of the CUS and the PTI nanosheets, Li CUSs were introduced into the PTI nanosheets for C3H6/C3H8 separation. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations demonstrated the thermodynamic feasibility of incorporating Li CUSs into the PTI nanosheets. These highly exposed Li CUSs were predicted to have a higher adsorption affinity toward C3H6 than C3H8. Using the DFT-derived force field parameters, we further performed grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations to investigate C3H6/C3H8 adsorption on the Li–PTI complexes slit pore model with different pore widths (H). We found that the Li–PTI complexes display considerable C3H6/C3H8 selectivity (4.2–7.9) under relevant conditions. Moreover, the Li–PTI complexes slit pore have large C3H6 working capacities (1.5–4.0 mmol g−1), superior to those calculated for the most of adsorbent materials that have been reported. The Li–PTI complexes with slit pore architecture show potential as C3H6/C3H8 separation materials.