A solar sponge to soak up industrial carbon Sydney, Feb 13 : A
'solar sponge' could be a feasible way of capturing carbon
dioxide (CO2) from coal fired power stations and then releasing
the gas after exposure to sunlight, shows a research. "This is
an exciting development for carbon capture because concentrated
solar energy can be used instead of further coal-based energy to
drive the process," said Matthew Hill, who led the Commonwealth
Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) group
conducting this research. The CSIRO has utilised a new smart
material called MOF (metal organic framework), to create the
sponge, which absorbs as much as a litre of nitrogen gas in just
one gram of material, the journal Angewandte Chemie reports.
This is possible because a single gram of MOF has the surface
area of an entire football field, meaning that gases can be
soaked up like a sponge to all of the internal surfaces within,
according to a CSIRO statement. "The capture and release process
can be compared to soakin