Abstract: The adsorption and separation of diols from dilute aqueous solution using hydrophobic materials is very challenging due to the strong diol-water hydrogen-bonding interactions. Herein, we screened hydrophobic zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) with chabazite (CHA) topology for separation of 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO) and 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO), which had junctional and hydrophobic traps matching the two end methyl groups of the 2,3-BDO molecule. Based on CHA-ZIFs with the same small-sized ligand 2-methylimidazole (mIm) and different large-sized ligand benzimidazole derivatives (RbIm), CHA-ZIFs with larger surface areas were obtained by the addition of excess small-sized ligand mIm in the synthesis process. We showed that all of the hydrophobic CHA-ZIFs preferentially adsorbed 2,3-BDO over 1,3-PDO by static batch adsorption and dynamic column adsorption experiments. But ZIF-301 and ZIF-300 with halogen groups exhibited better adsorptive separation performance for 2,3-BDO/1,3-PDO than ZIF-302 with methyl groups. For a typical ZIF-301, its adsorption capacity for 2,3-BDO was 116.4 mg·g^-1 and selectivity for 2,3-BDO/1,3-PDO was 3.8 in dynamic column adsorption of the binary-component system (2,3-BDO/1,3-PDO: 50 g·L^-1/50 g·L^-1). Computational simulations revealed that 2,3-BDO preferentially adsorbed in a trap at the junction between the cha and d6r cages of CHA-ZIFs, meaning the strong host-guest interactions. Therefore, the hydrophobic CHA-ZIFs with a junctional trap were promising candidate materials for adsorbing 2,3-BDO, which also provided a new perspective for separating diols in dilute aqueous solutions.

Key words: Adsorption, Separation, Aqueous solution, Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks, Junctional and hydrophobic trap, Diols

摘要： The adsorption and separation of diols from dilute aqueous solution using hydrophobic materials is very challenging due to the strong diol-water hydrogen-bonding interactions. Herein, we screened hydrophobic zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) with chabazite (CHA) topology for separation of 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO) and 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO), which had junctional and hydrophobic traps matching the two end methyl groups of the 2,3-BDO molecule. Based on CHA-ZIFs with the same small-sized ligand 2-methylimidazole (mIm) and different large-sized ligand benzimidazole derivatives (RbIm), CHA-ZIFs with larger surface areas were obtained by the addition of excess small-sized ligand mIm in the synthesis process. We showed that all of the hydrophobic CHA-ZIFs preferentially adsorbed 2,3-BDO over 1,3-PDO by static batch adsorption and dynamic column adsorption experiments. But ZIF-301 and ZIF-300 with halogen groups exhibited better adsorptive separation performance for 2,3-BDO/1,3-PDO than ZIF-302 with methyl groups. For a typical ZIF-301, its adsorption capacity for 2,3-BDO was 116.4 mg·g^-1 and selectivity for 2,3-BDO/1,3-PDO was 3.8 in dynamic column adsorption of the binary-component system (2,3-BDO/1,3-PDO: 50 g·L^-1/50 g·L^-1). Computational simulations revealed that 2,3-BDO preferentially adsorbed in a trap at the junction between the cha and d6r cages of CHA-ZIFs, meaning the strong host-guest interactions. Therefore, the hydrophobic CHA-ZIFs with a junctional trap were promising candidate materials for adsorbing 2,3-BDO, which also provided a new perspective for separating diols in dilute aqueous solutions.

关键词: Adsorption, Separation, Aqueous solution, Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks, Junctional and hydrophobic trap, Diols