Issue 18, 2024

Highly selective removal of thiophene from benzene by cucurbit[6]uril in both mixed vapors and solutions

Abstract

The separation of benzene and thiophene presents a significant challenge in the chemical industry, particularly in the pursuit of obtaining high purity benzene. Conventional approaches employed for benzene and thiophene separation have drawbacks such as excessive energy consumption, intricate technical procedures, and the persistence of extractant remnants. Herein, we developed an adsorptive separation method characterized by its environmentally friendly nature, low energy consumption, simplicity in operation, and most importantly, high selectivity in separation. In this paper, cucurbit[6]uril (Q[6]) was employed as an adsorbent for effectively separating thiophene from a mixture of benzene and thiophene both in a solid–vapor and solid–liquid interface, with a selectivity of 99.3% at solid–vapor and 100% at solid–liquid interfaces. Excellent results were also obtained in the simulations of practical industrial separation with lower thiophene content. The selectivity arises from the formation of a host–guest complex between Q[6] and thiophene, while benzene does not form such a complex under the experimental conditions. In addition, the thiophene trapped within the Q[6] cavity can be eliminated through heating under vacuum or immersion in an organic solvent, yielding a guest-free Q[6] that can be reused without obvious reduction of separation performance. High-purity benzene and thiophene were obtained through this purification process. This work provides a new strategy for separating other important compounds with similar boiling points and offers inspiration for using supramolecular hosts in other energy-intensive separation methods.

Graphical abstract: Highly selective removal of thiophene from benzene by cucurbit[6]uril in both mixed vapors and solutions

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Research Article
Submitted
06 Jun 2024
Accepted
14 Jul 2024
First published
16 Jul 2024

Mater. Chem. Front., 2024,8, 2989-2994

Highly selective removal of thiophene from benzene by cucurbit[6]uril in both mixed vapors and solutions

C. Liang, Y. Zeng, Y. Zhang, L. Chen, S. Qiu, Z. Tao and Q. Li, Mater. Chem. Front., 2024, 8, 2989 DOI: 10.1039/D4QM00480A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements