Laura De Rosa It was developed by a research group from the Italian Institute of Technology in Pontedera. It is a totally sustainable material that belongs to the family of metalorganic compounds
©Italian Institute of Technology
Some time ago, we reported the amazing discovery of a molecular material-cage made by researchers at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh able to capture greenhouse gases with amazing efficiency.
Now, here comes another amazing material, this one realized by a research team headed by Mauro Gemmi of the Italian Institute of Technology in Pontedera (Pisa), capable of absorbing pollutants that are dispersed in water and up into the atmosphere.
A new Metal-Organic-Framework material
It belongs to the class of Metal-Organic Frameworks, or MOFs, but with one key distinction. The researchers designed a new atomic blueprint by combining copper atoms with naturally derived protocatechuic acid bridges. The result: the material is green-both literally and figuratively-economic and environmentally friendly.
The MOF was synthesized using mechanochemistry, a green method that avoids harsh solvents and produces highly tiny crystals.
How MOFs work
As the Italian Institute of Technology describes it, MOFs are “porous crystalline materials with a structure similar to a scaffold of beams around a vast empty space.” Their internal space can store not only gases such as hydrogen and methane but can also absorb impurities.
The researchers said that this material could prove revolutionary in the fight against pollution in their study published in Crystal Growth and Design.
