In situ synthesis of thin zeolitic-imidazolate framework ZIF-8 membranes exhibiting exceptionally high propylene/propane separation.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of hybrid porous crystalline materials comprising of metal centers coordinated to organic linkers. Owing to their well-defined pores and cavities in the scale of molecules combined with abundant surface chemistry, MOFs offer unprecedented opportunities for a wide range of applications including membrane-based gas separations. It is not straightforward (often requiring multiple steps) to prepare membranes of MOFs due to the fact that the heterogeneous nucleation and growth of MOF crystals on porous supports are not generally favored. Furthermore, the performance of polycrystalline MOF membranes strongly depends on the membrane microstructure, in particular, the grain boundary structure. Here we report a simple one step in situ method based on a counter-diffusion concept to prepare well-intergrown ZIF-8 membranes with significantly enhanced microstructure, resulting in exceptionally high separation performance toward propylene over propane.