Some time ago we told you about the discovery, by a team of researchers from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, of a material composed of cage-shaped molecules, capable of capturing greenhouse gases with surprising efficiency.
Now, another material has been added to this extraordinary material, developed by the research group coordinated by Mauro Gemmi of the Italian Institute of Technology in Pontedera (Pisa). This is a new material capable of absorbing pollutants dispersed in various environments, passing from water to the atmosphere.
It belongs to the metal-organic compounds (Metal-Organic Framework, MOF), but it is of a new concept: the research group has in fact created the atomic arrangement of this new MOF by joining copper atoms with protocatechuic acid bridges, a compound that is easily found in nature , and which makes the material more sustainable both environmentally and economically.
MOF was synthesized through mechanochemistry, a green technique that does not require the addition of aggressive solvents and which allows the generation of very small crystals.
Speaking of MOFs, the Italian Institute of Technology explains that they are – porous crystalline materials whose structure is comparable to a scaffolding of beams around a very large empty space. – It is precisely their internal space that is able to store gases such as hydrogen and methane, but also to absorb any impurities.
It could really prove revolutionary in the fight against pollution, explained the researchers in the study published in the journal “Crystal Growth and Design”.
SOURCES: Crystal Growth & Design/Italian Institute of Technology
