Light olefins are the precursors of all modern-day plastics. Olefin is always mixed with paraffins in the time of production, and therefore it needs to be separated from paraffins to produce polymer-grade olefin. The state-of-the-art separation technique, cryogenic distillation, is highly expensive and hazardous. Adsorption could be a novel, sustainable, and inexpensive separation strategy, provided a suitable adsorbent can be designed. There are different types of mechanisms that were harnessed for the separation of olefins by adsorption, and in this review, we have focused our discussion on those mechanisms. These mechanisms include, (a) Affinity-based separation, like pi complexation and hydrogen bonding, (b) Separation based on pore size and shape, like size-exclusion and gate-opening effect, and (c) Non-equilibrium separation, like kinetic separation. In this review, we have elaborated each of the separation strategies from the fundamental level and explained their roles in the separation processes of different types of paraffins and olefins.

轻质烯烃是所有现代塑料的前体。烯烃在生产时总是与石蜡混合，因此需要将其与石蜡分离以生产聚合物级烯烃。最先进的分离技术低温蒸馏非常昂贵且危险。如果可以设计合适的吸附剂，吸附可能是一种新颖、可持续且廉价的分离策略。有不同类型的机制可用于通过吸附分离烯烃，在本综述中，我们将讨论重点放在了这些机制上。这些机制包括，(a) 基于亲和性的分离，如 pi 络合和氢键，(b) 基于孔径和形状的分离，如尺寸排阻和开门效应，以及 (c) 非平衡分离，比如动力分离。在这篇综述中，我们从基础层面详细阐述了每种分离策略，并解释了它们在不同类型链烷烃和烯烃的分离过程中的作用。