This is pretty neat!
The CBC is reporting that a new form of crystal can capture CO2 in a way that seems like magic.
Chemists at the University of California Los Angeles said the crystals — which go by the name zeolitic imidazolate frameworks, or ZIFs — can be tailored to absorb and trap specific molecules.
“The technical challenge of selectively removing carbon dioxide has been overcome,” said UCLA chemistry professor Omar Yaghi in a statement.
The team of scientists created 25 ZIF crystal structures in a laboratory, three of which showed a particular affinity for capturing carbon dioxide. The highly porous crystals also had what the researchers called “extraordinary capacity for storing CO2”: one litre of the crystals could store about 83 litres of CO2.