New material sucks in CO2, spits out everything else
A novel porous material with unique carbon dioxide retention properties has been developed by a team from the University of Nottingham.
Dubbed NOTT-202a, the metal organic framework forms part of ongoing efforts to develop new materials for gas storage applications and could have an impact in the advancement of new carbon capture products for reducing emissions from fossil fuel processes.
According to the researchers, its honeycomb-like structure allows selective adsorption of carbon dioxide, whichmeans that while other gases such as nitrogen, methane and hydrogen can pass back through, the carbon dioxide remains trapped in the materials nanopores, even at low temperatures.
Lead researcher Professor Martin Schröder, from the University's School of Chemistry, said: "The defect structure that this new material shows can be correlated directly to its gas adsorption properties. Detailed analyses via structure determination and computational modelling have been critical in determining and rationalising the structure and function of this material."
State of the art X-ray powder diffraction measurements and advanced computer modelling were used to probe and gain insight into the unique carbon dioxide capturing properties of the material, which the researchers believe could also have applications in sieving and purification, carbon capture, chemical reactivity and sensing.
The research has been reported in the journal Nature Materials.
