Are Metal Organic Frameworks a Wonder Material?

Why?

MOF Technologies provide tangible, scalable and cost-effective solutions to environmental challenges, including carbon capture, urban air pollution and hydrogen power

MOF Technologies has an innovative process that delivers MOFs in a sustainable and cost-effective way. It has unlocked MOFs’ value, with some of their applications poised to revolutionise the way we live and work

Metal-organic frameworks are a new class of crystalline super-adsorbent. Composed of metal ions and organic linkers, they can be formed in one-, two- and three-dimensional structures and have exceptionally large surface areas. Highly porous in nature, MOFs can be designed to capture, store and release specific gases. This is done through a careful selection of metals and linkers during the first stages of synthesis.

MOFs hold up to 15 times more gas than other systems and can be developed to target everything from ethylene and ammonia to carbon dioxide and methane

MOF Technologies’ patented approach has been able to develop MOFs that store and deliver highly unstable gases unsuitable for compression

It has also worked with companies to create MOFs that can store up to 80% more gas when compared to other more traditional materials

Today’s CO2 capture technologies are inhibited by high operating costs and energy intensive processes that offset any benefit to the environment. MOF Technologies has engineered sorbents that can store up to half their own weight in CO2 and is also trialing different solutions to withstand the harsh conditions found in industrial exhausts

MOFs versatile structure and ‘tunable’ properties also make them useful for the development of emerging technologies, like hydrogen fuel cells for use in zero-emission vehicles

One challenge to the viability of hydrogen motive power is the ability to store enough gas at the correct pressure. Efforts so far have not been sufficient to support practical driving distances between refilling. MOFs could be the solution as they are able to hold more gas at low pressure than expensive specialised tanks at high pressure

MOFs have also demonstrated value for harvesting water vapour from the air. One experiment saw a prototype collect over 17 litres of water per day without any added energy

This capability has great potential for water security in arid regions, as the fluids extracted from MOF powders have been shown to be free of any contaminants. A scaled-up version of the technology could produce low-cost desalination plants

MOFs have been suggested as a way to improve indoor air quality for people living in cities.

MOFs are set to positively disrupt society. Indeed, this discussion has not touched on other promising applications, such as MOFs for drug delivery or biological imaging and sensing.

Do you agree MOFs are a “wonder material”?