CoNi Alloy Nanoparticles Embedded in Metal-Organic Framework-Derived Carbon for the Highly Efficient Separation of Xenon and Krypton via a Charge-Transfer Effect

Fuqiang Chen; Jiaqi Ding; Kaiqing Guo; Liu Yang; Zhiguo Zhang; Qiwei Yang; Yiwen Yang; Zongbi Bao; Yi He; Qilong Ren

doi:10.1002/anie.202011778

CoNi Alloy Nanoparticles Embedded in Metal-Organic Framework-Derived Carbon for the Highly Efficient Separation of Xenon and Krypton via a Charge-Transfer Effect

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2021 Feb 1;60(5):2431-2438. doi: 10.1002/anie.202011778. Epub 2020 Dec 1.

Authors

Fuqiang Chen¹, Jiaqi Ding¹, Kaiqing Guo², Liu Yang¹, Zhiguo Zhang^{1

2}, Qiwei Yang^{1

2}, Yiwen Yang^{1

2}, Zongbi Bao^{1

2}, Yi He¹, Qilong Ren^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, 38 Zheda Road, Hangzhou, 310027, P. R. China.
² Institute of Zhejiang University-Quzhou, 78 Jiuhua Boulevard North, Quzhou, 324000, P. R. China.

PMID: 33459453
DOI: 10.1002/anie.202011778

Abstract

Separation of Xe and Kr is one of the greatest challenges in the gas industries owing to their close molecular structure and similar properties. Energy-effective adsorption-based separation using chemically stable carbon adsorbents is a promising technology. We propose a strategy for Xe/Kr separation using MOF-derived metallic carbon adsorbents. M-Gallate (M=Ni, Co) were used as precursors to fabricate CoNi alloy nanoparticles embedded carbon adsorbents by one-step auto-reduction pyrolysis. The optimal NiCo@C-700 exhibits record-high IAST selectivity (24.1) and Henry's selectivity (20.1) of Xe/Kr among reported carbon adsorbents. DFT calculations, local density of states calculation, charge density difference, and Bader charge analysis reveal the great affinity with Xe benefits from the presence of Ni or CoNi nanoparticles as a result of more charge transfer from Xe than Kr to metal, thus providing higher binding energy. Breakthrough experiments further verify NiCo@C-700 a promising candidate for Xe/Kr separation.

Keywords: adsorption separation; carbon adsorbent; krypton; metal-organic frameworks; xenon.

Abstract

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