# Beijing University of Technology's MOF BUT-313 purifies C2F6 from fluorocarbon mixture to over 99.98%

- Published: 2026-11-05 15:27 UTC
- Section: Science › Chemistry
- Tags: BUT-313, hexafluoroethane purification, C2F6 separation, metal-organic framework, molecular sieving, hydrofluorocarbons, C2H2F4, C2HF5, shape-selective adsorption, Beijing University of Technology
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-0950a7cd808b79ce905f9042_beijing_university_of/

**Replacing one oxygen atom with sulfur in the linker narrowed the pore to 4.2 Å, so the framework adsorbs C2H2F4 and C2HF5 but largely excludes C2F6 in laboratory tests.**

![Beijing University of Technology's MOF BUT-313 purifies C2F6 from fluorocarbon mixture to over 99.98%](https://sgzwpqqelzmajkcubgkl.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/rt-media/2026/11/2629d1c09844b76f.jpg)
*U.S. Department of Energy from United States, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain*

Researchers at the State Key Laboratory of Materials Low-Carbon Recycling, Beijing University of Technology, reported a metal-organic framework, BUT-313, for purifying hexafluoroethane (C2F6) from a ternary mixture with the hydrofluorocarbons C2H2F4 and C2HF5. The work was published in Nature Communications. According to the authors, conventional routes for this separation are energy-intensive. The material was tested at laboratory scale, including a batch scaled up to 10 g. [1]

## Pore geometry change in the linker

The team started from the framework PCP-FDCA and made a minimal substitution of oxygen with sulfur in the dicarboxylate linker. According to the authors, this single-atom edit turns the original rectangular channel into an hourglass-like pore with a bottleneck constriction of 4.2 Å. [1]

The narrowed constriction acts as a shape-selective molecular sieve. BUT-313 strongly suppresses uptake of the more symmetric C2F6, while it still adsorbs the anisotropic fluorocarbons C2H2F4 and C2HF5. [1]

## Adsorption and separation results

At 298 K and 100 kPa, BUT-313 shows uptake ratios of 7.7 for C2H2F4/C2F6 and 6.0 for C2HF5/C2F6. The authors describe these as the highest uptake ratios reported. The C2H2F4/C2F6 selectivity is 487.0, which the authors call a record-high value. [1]

In ternary mixture column experiments, BUT-313 delivered C2F6 with a purity above 99.98% and a productivity of 184.5 L/kg. The authors report that the performance was retained over multiple cycles and after scale-up to the 10 g level. [1]

The study was carried out by Heng-Yu Ruan, Xin Zhang, Zhi-Wei Zhai, Jia-Mei Yu, Xuefeng Bai and Jian-Rong Li. The results come from laboratory experiments with a framework material, not from an industrial installation. [1]

## Sources

1. [Nature Communications](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-79219-9)

---

Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-0950a7cd808b79ce905f9042_beijing_university_of/