A team of scientists in the United Kingdom has made an exciting discovery of a porous material with the potential to store large quantities of greenhouse gases. This finding could be a valuable tool in the fight against climate change. The scientists used computational models to develop this material, which was detailed in a newly published paper in the journal Nature Synthesis. They believe that certain structural features make it excellent for storing carbon dioxide and sulphur hexafluoride.
Engineering professor Marc Little from Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University expressed his excitement about the discovery, explaining that society needs new porous materials to address major challenges. The new material is an organic supermolecule composed of oxygen, nitrogen, and fluorine, forming a cage-like structure of smaller molecules. Little highlighted the importance of human intervention in capturing greenhouse gases quickly and efficiently from the environment.
In addition to this new material, other potential carbon “sinks” are in development. A two-dimensional boron structure with a large surface area shows promise in absorbing greenhouse gases from power plants. Researchers are also exploring the use of concrete, a material that emits significant amounts of carbon dioxide but underpins much of modern society. Efforts to modify concrete by adding materials like baking soda aim to enhance its ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
While these new materials hold promise, the challenge lies in transitioning from lab experiments to practical applications. Scaling up these solutions from the laboratory to the market is a crucial step for leveraging material science in the fight against climate change. The hope is that researchers like Marc Little will be able to overcome this challenge and make a meaningful impact on addressing climate change.