Storing gas in vegetables, potential for energy and cost
savingsDecember 11th, 2012 in Chemistry / Materials Science
(Phys.org)—A team led by the University of Liverpool and South
China University of Technology is investigating the viability of
storing gas in 'bioclathrates' formed from fungi and vegetables.
Gas storage, both short and long term, is an expensive and
energy intensive process, with liquefaction and compression into
porous sorbents the two methods under consideration. Inspired by
biomimetic approach But Professor Andrew Cooper, from the
University's Department of Chemistry, and Weixing Wang, from
South China University of Technology, inspired by the biomimetic
approaches to heavy metal storage and the ability of natural
structures to facilitate gas transport, decided to delve deeper.
Clathrate hydrates are a chemical compound of water and gas,
where the gas molecules are trapped inside a crystalline cage of
ordered, hydrogen bonded water molecules. They can form with a
large number of low molecu