The process of chemically ‘scrubbing’ carbon dioxide from smokestack emissions hails from Oregon State University. The technology carries the potential to mitigate global climate change arising from various types of power stations.
Air pollution is a major global issue. Short term exposure to fine particulate matter in the air (termed PM2.5, based on the relative sizes of the particles) is connected with a rise in hospital admissions. More recent British research shows how those living in a more polluted area carry a greater chance of developing glaucoma, which is a debilitating eye condition that can cause blindness.
The new scrubbing technology was derived from data mining thousands of nanomaterials called metal organic frameworks. These compounds hold the potential to intercept, via adsorption, carbon dioxide molecules as the flue gases pass out of a smokestack. In all some 325,000 compounds were examined within a digital library.
Then researchers selected two metal organic frameworks. These were frameworks which contained a hydrophobic (water-repelling) adsorbaphore composed of two aromatic cores and tested them. These metal organic frameworks most carbon dioxide removal materials, such as activated carbon and zeolite 13X. These means metal organic frameworks carry great potential as a carbon scrubbing material to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions.
The new study is published in the science journal Nature, where the study is headed “Data-driven design of metal–organic frameworks for wet flue gas CO2 capture.”
In related news, scientists demonstrate how a graphene-titania photocatalyst can degrade up to 70 percent more atmospheric nitrogen oxide compared with current processes, based on tests conducted on real pollutants.
