(727h) Reverse Shape Selectivity in Liquid Phase Adsorption of Xylene Isomers in the Zirconium Terephthalate MOF Uio-66

Reverse shape selectivity in liquid phase adsorption of xylene isomers in the zirconium terephthalate MOF UiO-66

Mariana A. Moreira^†, João C. Santos^†, Alexandre F. P. Ferreira^†, José M. Loureiro^†, Florence Ragon^‡, Patricia Horcajada^‡, Kyu.-E. Shim^§, Young- K. Hwang^§, U.- Hwang Lee^§, Jong.-S. Chang^§, Christian Serre^‡, Alírio E. Rodrigues^†*

^† LSRE - Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering - Associate Laboratory LSRE/LCM, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal; ^‡ Institut Lavoisier (UMR CNRS 8180), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, 45 avenue des Etats-Unis, 78035 Versailles cedex, France; ^§ Catalysis Center for Molecular Engineering, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), P.O. Box 107, Yusung, Taejon 305–600, Korea.

 

Abstract

Powder, agglomerates and tablets of the microporous zirconium (IV) terephthalate Metal-organic framework UiO-66 were evaluated for selective adsorption and separation of xylene isomers and ethylbenzene in liquid phase using n-heptane as eluent. Pulse experiments, performed at 313 K in presence of n-heptane, revealed the o-xylene preference of this material, further confirmed by binary and multi-component breakthrough experiments in the presence of m-, p-xylene, and ethylbenzene. The shaping of the material as tablets did not significantly change its selectivity towards the o-xylene isomer despite a loss in capacity. The binary and multicomponent equilibrium data of the xylene isomers and ethylbenzene was well modeled by a Dual Langmuir model. The simulations of the breakthrough and reverse breakthrough experiments were performed in the three materials, presenting good agreement between the simulation and experimental results.