Integration of open metal sites and Lewis basic sites for construction of a Cu MOF with rare chiral Oh type of cage for high performance of methane purification

A Cu MOF [Cu4(PMTD)2(H2O)3]·20H2O, 1, (Where PMTD is (1,4-phenylenebis(5-methyl-4H-1,2,4-triazole-3,4-diyl)bis(5-carboxylato-3,1-phenylene)bis(hydroperoxymethanide) with rare chiral Oh type of cage and dual functionalities of open metal sites and Lewis basic sites based on a designed U-shaped ligand was synthesized by hydrothermal method. It exhibits high-capacity of CO2, C2 and C3 hydrocarbon storage capacity under atmospheric pressure as well as high H2 (1.96% wt) adsorption capacity at 77K. Methane purification capacity was tested and verified step by step. Isosteric heats (Qst) study reveals that CH4 has the weakest van der Waals host- guest interactions among the seven gases at 298K. Ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST) calculation reveals that compound 1 is more selective toward CO2, C2H6 and C3H8 over CH4 in further calculating its separation capacity, as exemplified for CO2/CH4 (50:50, 5:95), C2H6/CH4 (50:50, 5:95) or C3H8/CH4 (50:50, 5:95) binary gas mixtures. Breakthrough experiments show that 1 has a significantly higher adsorption capacity for CO2, C2H6 and C3H8 than CH4. The selective adsorption properties of 1 make it a promising candidate for methane purification.