12
mate porosity of a nanomaterial”, which achieved world records for both porosity and carbon-dioxide storage capacity in an important class of materials known as MOFs, or metal–organic frameworks. MOFs, sometimes described as crystal sponges, have pores — nanoscale openings which can store gases that are usually difficult to store and transport. Porosity is crucial for compacting large amounts of gases into small volumes and is an essential property for capturing carbon dioxide. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is 388 ppm, by volume, in the
sponge it can be 478 000 ppm, over three orders of magnitude greater, thus we only need a piece of composite about the size of one thousandth of an atmosphere to capture it all; though we do not need to do this, it is nice to know that the volume of the atmosphere is a little over a quarter of a trillion cubic kilometers (although the distribution of CO2 throughout the atmosphere is not even). Absorbing and capturing CO2, in sponges, phytoplankton, or forests is necessary but in my humble opinion it does not con-
Van Gogh's Starry Night. Image winner of the 2010 National Scientific Photography Contest (FotCiencia) organized by the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) and the Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (FECYT).
Nanotechnology: Engines On
nanowiki.info