Hope for Carbon Capture Materials

Friday, June 25 2010

Berkeley Lab scientists are betting on a recently discovered class of materials - called metal-organic frameworks, which boast a record-shattering internal surface area - to efficiently strip carbon dioxide from a power plant's exhaust before it leaves the smokestack.

A sugar cube-sized piece, if unfolded and flattened, would more than blanket a football field. The crystalline material can also be tweaked to absorb specific molecules. This video shows a high-throughput metal-organic framework synthesis instrument in action.