Scientists from the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences have created efficient sorbents for the extraction of hydrocarbons - methane and ethane from multi-component mixtures. Experiments were conducted with the help of the "EXAFS Spectroscopy Station" at the Siberian Center of Synchrotron and Terahertz Radiation based at the Institute of Nuclear Physics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

"Researchers from the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences have created mesoporous metal-organic coordination polymers - unique compounds for the extraction of light alkanes (methane and ethane) from complex multi-component mixtures. These hydrocarbons are widely used in the energy and chemical industries", - told in the Scientific Research Center "Institute of Catalysis, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences".

Light alkanes (methane, ethane, propane and others) and natural gas are usually separated using cryogenic installations, however, this is associated with significant energy costs, which reduces profitability. Researchers from the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences proposed a new method based on gas separation using adsorption. Scientists have shown that the NIIC-20 sorbents have high adsorption capacity values for methane, ethane, propane, as well as high selectivity.