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12/06/2012
UK Researchers Develop C02 'Sponge'
It has been announced that UK researchers have developed a porous material that can preferentially soak up CO2 from the atmosphere.
Named NOTT-202, it is a "metal-organic framework" that works like a sponge, absorbing a number of gases at high pressures.
But as the pressure is reduced, CO2 is retained as other gases are released.
The development, reported in Nature Materials, holds promise for carbon capture and storage, or even for removing CO2 from the exhaust gases of power plants and factories.
For a number of years metal-organic frameworks have been considered promising structures to trap gases. They are so named because they comprise atoms of a metallic element at their core, surrounded by scaffolds of longer, carbon-containing chains.
These complex molecules can be made to join together in frameworks that leave gaps suitable for capturing gases.
However until recently the structures selective for trapping C02 had proven to have a low capacity for storing the gas.
The report states: "Increasing the selectivity for CO2 in the presence of gaseous mixtures represents a major challenge if these systems are to find practical applications under dynamic conditions."
The researchers used X-ray diffraction and detailed computer models and found that NOTT-202 is made up of two different frameworks that slot together incompletely, leaving "nanopore" gaps particularly suited to gathering up CO2.
This two-part structure, the researchers claim, is an entirely new class of porous material.
As such, research into just how similarly paired frameworks can be created may help researchers find a range of materials suited to soaking up specific gases.
(H)
Named NOTT-202, it is a "metal-organic framework" that works like a sponge, absorbing a number of gases at high pressures.
But as the pressure is reduced, CO2 is retained as other gases are released.
The development, reported in Nature Materials, holds promise for carbon capture and storage, or even for removing CO2 from the exhaust gases of power plants and factories.
For a number of years metal-organic frameworks have been considered promising structures to trap gases. They are so named because they comprise atoms of a metallic element at their core, surrounded by scaffolds of longer, carbon-containing chains.
These complex molecules can be made to join together in frameworks that leave gaps suitable for capturing gases.
However until recently the structures selective for trapping C02 had proven to have a low capacity for storing the gas.
The report states: "Increasing the selectivity for CO2 in the presence of gaseous mixtures represents a major challenge if these systems are to find practical applications under dynamic conditions."
The researchers used X-ray diffraction and detailed computer models and found that NOTT-202 is made up of two different frameworks that slot together incompletely, leaving "nanopore" gaps particularly suited to gathering up CO2.
This two-part structure, the researchers claim, is an entirely new class of porous material.
As such, research into just how similarly paired frameworks can be created may help researchers find a range of materials suited to soaking up specific gases.
(H)
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