Metal frameworks store CO2

Since the Industrial Revolution, levels of carbon dioxide - a major contributor to the greenhouse effect - have been on the rise, prompting scientists to search for ways of counteracting the trend.

One of the main strategies is removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the flue exhaust of power plants, using porous materials that take up the gas as it travels up the flue.

A new class of materials invented and developed by Omar Yaghi at the University of Michigan can store vast amounts of carbon dioxide. And one member of the class has the highest carbon dioxide capacity of any porous material.

The materials, called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and sometimes referred to as crystal sponges, previously have been shown to have great potential for storing hydrogen and methane. On the molecular level, MOFs are scaffolds made up of metal hubs linked together with struts of organic compounds, a structure designed to maximize surface area.