Isolation of Polyethylene Glycol with Larger Molecular Weights via Metal–Organic Frameworks

• Published in: Macromolecular rapid communications. 2024-12, Vol.45 (23), p.e2400535-n/a
• Main Authors: Huang, Yali, Ren, Ziye, Fan, Ziwen, Zhang, Hanwen, Wu, Yueyue, Wang, Yue, Hu, Zhuoyi, Quan, Xueheng, Wang, Zhao, Niu, Zheng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adsorption; adsorption and separation; Chemical bonds; Hydrogen Bonding; Hydrogen bonds; Metal-organic frameworks; Metal-Organic Frameworks - chemistry; Mixtures; Molecular Weight; Molecular weight distribution; Polyethylene glycol; Polyethylene Glycols - chemistry; polymer purification; Polymers
• ISSN: 1022-1336; 1521-3927; 1521-3927
• DOI: 10.1002/marc.202400535

Polymer products typically present as mixtures with a range of molecular weights, which notably influence the expression of their properties. In this study, a technique is proposed to separate polyethylene glycol (PEG) mixtures of varying molecular weights using metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), thereby narrowing down their molecular weight distribution. Due to the hydrogen bond interactions between PEG and ‐OH groups in the pores of NU‐1000, NU‐1000 can selectively adsorb PEG with larger molecular weights from PEG mixture. This separation method consistently yields with narrower molecular weight distribution across multiple cycles. This is the first application of MOFs in regulating the dispersity (Ð) of polymers in solution, providing a novel approach for separating and purifying mixed molecular weight polymers. A novel method has been proposed for separating the mixed molecular weights PEG by employing NU‐1000. The hydroxyl groups on the Zr clusters allow NU‐1000 to selectively adsorb PEG with higher molecular weight. This strategy achieves a product with a content of 99.9% and the separation capability can be maintained after 9 cycles.