Crystals Absorb CO2 Like a Sponge

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.

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