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[Display omitted] • C 2 H 4 /C 2 H 6 separation was studied using highly permeable ZIF-8 membranes. • The membrane temperatures were varied from −30 to 100 °C for separation. • A high C 2 H 4 permeance of 8.1 × 10−7 mol/(m2·s·Pa) was observed at −30 °C. Ethylene/ethane separation is a critical and energy-consuming process in the chemical industry due to the similar properties of the compounds and the great need of ethylene for e.g., polymer production. Many materials have been studied for their implementation as membranes as an energetically favorable alternative to conventional distillation and adsorption processes. Metal-organic frameworks (MOF) have revealed promising properties as highly permeable and selective membranes. Among the most studied and promising MOF candidates is ZIF-8, known for its thermal stability and small pores connected by narrow-sized windows. In this work, we present an analysis of the influence of parameters such as temperature, feed pressure and feed flowrate on the separation of ethylene/ethane through a thin ZIF-8/alumina disc membrane. We observed that the temperature has a significant effect on the separation. The ethylene permeance increased with decreased temperature and reached 8.1 × 10−7 mol/(m2·s·Pa) at −30 °C. At this temperature, the ethylene/ethane selectivity was 2.5. The study concluded with a considerable enhancement of the permeance of ZIF-8 membranes for ethylene/ethane separations, while maintaining a good selectivity compared to the reported values in the literature. The results have important implications for the development of more cost-effective and energy-efficient membrane-based separation technologies for ethylene purification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]