Authors
Jiaqi Li, Rundao Chen, Lidong Guo, Haoran Sun, Jialei Yan, Ying Liu, Fuxing Shen, Qiwei Yang, Zhiguo Zhang, Qilong Ren, Dan Zhao, Zongbi Bao
Published in
Science advances. Volume 12. Issue 33. Pages eaeg1691. Aug 14, 2026. Epub Aug 14, 2026.
Abstract
Efficient separation of xylene isomers by adsorption remains challenging due to insufficient selectivity arising from their molecular similarity. We report an adaptable metal-organic framework, Ni(BIC)2 [1-H-benzimidazole-5-carboxylic acid (HBIC)], that exhibits high selectivity for para-xylene over other xylene isomers. Ni(BIC)2 features a guest-adaptive one-dimensional channel that precisely matches the molecular projection dimensions of para-xylene, enabling sieving from a quaternary mixture of xylene isomers. The structural transformation of Ni(BIC)2 upon guest adsorption substantially widens the disparity in binding energies between para-xylene and its counterparts. Weakly adsorbed components are converted into nonadsorbed entities, leading to temperature-independent para-xylene uptake while excluding meta-xylene and ortho-xylene. Breakthrough experiments demonstrate remarkable dynamic selectivity, delivering high-purity para-xylene within a single fixed-bed adsorption process. Simulated moving bed (SMB) process analysis demonstrates that Ni(BIC)2 delivers a 3.2-fold increase in production efficiency relative to conventional zeolite under milder operating conditions.
PMID:
42600023
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 15 Aug 2026.
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