A molecule that absorbs greenhouse gases!

"Cage of cells" - this is how scientists described a new type of porous material, unique in its molecular structure, which can be used to capture carbon dioxide and other, more powerful greenhouse gas.

This synthesized material, which was created by researchers from Great Britain and China, is manufactured in two stages: as a result of reactions, the assembly of triangular prism building blocks into larger and more symmetrical tetrahedral cells leads to the creation of the first molecular structure of this kind, says Dr. Mark Little's team!

The resulting material with an abundance of polar molecules attracts and retains greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), with strong affinity. It also showed excellent stability in water, which is crucial for its use to capture carbon in industrial conditions from wet gas streams.

"This is an exciting discovery," said Mark Little, a materials scientist at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and senior author of the study. He also said that new porous materials are needed to help solve the biggest problems of society, such as the capture and storage of greenhouse gases.

Laboratory experiments, although not tested at scale, have shown that the new cell-like material also has a high absorption of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), which, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is the most powerful greenhouse gas.

Researchers are developing new materials to improve direct air capture to make it more efficient and less energy-intensive, and this new material may be another option. But to prevent the worst effects of climate change, we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions faster than these emerging technologies can do now.