Chemists from Kyoto University, together with other Japanese and French scientists, developed
Researchers have used structures based onzinc containing benzenedicarboxylate and bipyridine linkers, and modified them with amino or nitro functional groups. These modifications allow the pressure required to fill the cylinder and release the gas during use to be adjusted.
Image: Mickaele Bonneau et al., Nature Chemistry
Acetylene is used in a wide rangeindustrial processes, including welding, metal cutting and organic chemical synthesis. As the researchers note, it is highly flammable at room temperature and spontaneously ignites when the pressure rises above 2 bar. Now, the researchers add, acetylene is stored in cylinders, dissolved in acetone or other similar substances. This allows the gas to be stored at high pressure, but also contaminates it.
Chemists have discovered that their porous MOFs canstore large quantities of pure acetylene at pressures below 2 bar without solvent. The scientists tested the release of acetylene at atmospheric pressure under real conditions. The maximum efficiency was achieved in the material with amino functional groups: it released up to 77% of the stored gas at atmospheric pressure.
“Our results show that acetylene canstore in smaller containers at low pressure and in larger quantities, up to 37 times more than other solvent-free storage solutions,” says Ken-ichi Otake, co-author of the study.
Scientists also note that they can tuneflexibility of the material using functional groups for gas storage in various conditions and temperatures. They plan to develop similar MOFs to store other gases such as carbon dioxide, oxygen and methane.
Cover image: Mindy Takamiya/Kyoto University iCeMS
Read more:
It has been hunted for centuries: what do we know about the planet Vulcan next to the Sun
Astronomers have found a planet near the Earth: it has a very strange orbit
Scientists from China have proved that modern plate shifts date back 2.5 billion years