Today, removing any significant volumes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (the main catalyst of the greenhouse effect) is an overwhelming task both in terms of the cost of the process and its efficiency. Scientists from the USA were able to optimize the process, creating a miracle powder with a record level of CO2 absorption, the commercial use of which could begin in a couple of years.
Image source: UC Berkeley
A group of scientists from the University of California at Berkeley worked on the discovery for more than 30 years. They studied compounds belonging to the so-called covalent organic frameworks, which have a porous structure and therefore have a huge absorption area.
The structure developed by scientists based on amine bonds, active in the capture of carbon dioxide molecules, turned out to be more successful than previous solutions. Just 200 grams of COF-999 powder can absorb 20 kg of CO2 from the air. No material is capable of this today. For comparison, this is approximately the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the average tree per year.
Framework structure of the powder, carbon dioxide molecules are shown in red and blue
A number of previous methods for directly capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere have also used amines (polyamines), but in the form of liquid solutions. Also, something like this required heating for a better reaction. The COF-999 material, scientists say, works at room temperature in dry powder, making it easy to use. Subsequent heating of the powder to 60°C releases the CO2 and allows the powder to recapture it. This can be done up to 100 times with each serving of COF-999. The released gas can be buried or put into production. Also, COF-999 powder, according to scientists, absorbs CO2 from the air 10 times faster than other substances with similar purposes.
Scientists expect the new material to be in use in about two years if they can improve its absorbency and cycle rates.