Scalable fabrication of COF membranes for aliphatic/aromatic separation of crude oil

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Cao, Li; An, Shuhao; Yuan, Bingbing; Li, Zhen; Samaras, Vasilios G.; Xu, Ting; Zhang, Xixiang; Zhang, Huabin; Lai, Zhiping
• 署名单位: King Abdullah University of Science & Technology; King Abdullah University of Science & Technology; King Abdullah University of Science & Technology
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.aea0869
• 发表日期: 2026-06-18
• 页码: 1262-1267
• 关键词: organic-solvent nanofiltration; crystalline

摘要

Distillation has been the cornerstone of crude oil refining for more than a century, relying on boiling point differences for fractionation. Although effective, it is highly energy-intensive and lacks the precision to separate specific hydrocarbon classes. We report crystalline covalent organic framework (COF) membranes with well-defined micropores and alkyl-functionalized frameworks that combine molecular sieving with preferential affinity to enrich aliphatics. An electric field-assisted roll-to-roll process enabled scalable fabrication of continuous membranes. These COF membranes enriched aliphatics to >95% and delivered permeance orders of magnitude higher than amorphous polymers in Arabian Light crude oil. A crude oil permeance of 0.34 liters m(-2) hours(-1) bar(-1) with >90% aliphatics enrichment was achieved using industrial-standard 1812 membrane modules, demonstrating a lower energy demand than distillation.