Researchers find a way to scale up the wonder material, which could do wonders for Earth

Researchers at the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have figured out how to take a miracle material capable of extracting value from captured carbon dioxide and do what no one else has: make it practical to manufacture for large-scale application. .

The breakthrough from the lab group of assistant professor of chemical engineering Gaurav “Gino” Giri has implications for cleaning up greenhouse gas, a major contributor to the climate change dilemma. It can also help solve the world’s energy needs.

The substance, called MOF-525, is in a class of materials called metal-organic frameworks.

“If you can make these MOFs cover large areas, then new applications become possible, such as creating a membrane for carbon capture and electrocatalytic conversion all in one system,” Giri said.

Electrocatalytic conversion creates a bridge from renewable energy sources to direct chemical synthesis, taking the burning of carbon dioxide-producing fossil fuels out of the equation.

What gives MOFs their superpowers are their ultra-porous, crystalline structures—3D networks of tiny nanoscale cavities that create a large internal surface area and act like a sponge—that can be engineered to capture all kinds of of chemical compounds.

A modern solution

Giri’s group reasoned that starting with an essentially scalable synthesis technique—slicing solutions—would better their chances. They had already succeeded in cutting simpler MOFs.

In Giri’s process, MOF components are mixed in a solution and then spread across a substrate with a cutting blade. As the solution evaporates, the chemical bonds form the MOF as a thin layer on the substrate. Application of MOF-525 in this manner produces a comprehensive membrane for carbon capture and conversion.

“The bigger the membrane, the more surface area you have for the reaction and the more product you can get,” said Prince Verma, a December 2023 PhD graduate in Giri’s lab. “With this process, you can increase the width of the cutting blade to whatever size you need.”

The team targeted the CO₂ conversion to demonstrate their cutting-edge approach because carbon capture is widely used to reduce industrial emissions or remove it from the atmosphere – but at a cost to operators with minimal return on investment: carbon dioxide has little commercial value and most often ends up stored indefinitely underground.

However, with minimal energy input, by using electricity to catalyze a reaction, MOF-525 can remove an oxygen atom to produce carbon monoxide – a chemical that is valuable for making fuels, pharmaceuticals and other products.

The researchers published their findings in the Journal of the American Chemical Society Applied Materials and Interfaces. Also contributing to the work were Connor A. Koellner, Hailey Hall, Meagan R. Phister, Kevin H. Stone, Asa W. Nichols, Ankit Dhakal, and Earl Ashcraft.