Desolvation-Degree-Induced Structural Dynamics in a Rigid Cerium–Organic Framework Exhibiting Tandem Purification of Ethylene from Acetylene and Ethane

Due to the industrial requirements for high production and high quality of ethylene, efficient purification of ethylene from acetylene and ethane is of prime importance but challenging. Dynamic metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have demonstrated intriguing structural dynamics and diverse applications recently. Among them, although a few flexible ones have exhibited interesting ethylene purification capability, rigid ones were yet barely investigated for such purpose. In this regard, a cerium(III)-based MOF was solvothermally synthesized, which is rigid and assembled from rod molecular building blocks associated with coordinative N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) molecules. After liberating different degrees of DMF ligands via heating under vacuum or acetone exchange, both partially desolvated compounds of Ce-MOF-1 and Ce-MOF-2 were concertedly isolated in a fashion of single-crystal to single-crystal transformation. Although both newly generated materials crystallize in the same space group, they exhibit dissimilar unit cell parameters and slightly distinct ultramicropore sizes and pore microenvironments, thanks to the discrepancy in the desolvation degree. Consequently, Ce-MOF-1 and Ce-MOF-2 individually demonstrate C2H2- and C2H6-selective adsorption behavior, resulting in the potential tandem separation of C2H4 from C2H2 and C2H6 mixtures. The above results were successfully supported by not only single gas adsorption isotherms but also grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) calculation studies and dynamic breakthrough experiments. The present work may pave the way for rigid MOFs aiming at advancing applications via solid-state structural dynamics.