Weapon to fight Global Warming?

by whlooi | Filed under BSL5.com, Biotech, General, Interesting, KeyEll(Kuala Lumpur), Science, Tech.

We know that carbon dioxide is killing corral reefs and marine life, contributes to global warming, rising sea levels and the increased acidity of oceans. We surely know that all these damages that will be irreversible, at least for many centuries, and I think all these phenomena are contributing to – Global Warming. For those who want to follow more about this problem, please refer here (Wikipedia source).But what if I tell you that a group of geek who’s invented a “thing” that could rectify or at least help to reduce the percentage of carbon dioxide in our breathing air!! Cool eh! And on top of that the material they invented help to increase energy efficiency especially in out power plants too. That is one stone kill two duck. Some time I really do salute them, they are the real inventor, they are the alchemist of science, not like me (a biotech), who only know how to apply and use up their resources. Yes, I’m a biotechnologist. What else?

This group of geek is from UCLA’s Christopher S. Foote Professor of Chemistry which they have demonstrated that they can successfully isolate and capture carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming. Their findings could also lead to power plants efficiently capturing carbon dioxide without using toxic materials; help the plants to save up 30% of energy. Isn’t that marvelous?

The “thing” they synthesized, ZIFs (zeolitic imidazolate frameworks) which are porous and chemically robust structures, with large surface areas, that can be heated to high temperatures without decomposition and boiled in water or organic solvents for a week and still remain stable.

“The inside of a ZIF can store gas molecules. Flaps that behave like the chemical equivalent of a revolving door allow certain molecules — in this case, carbon dioxide — to pass through and enter the reservoir while blocking larger molecules or molecules of different shapes. The capture of carbon dioxide creates cleaner energy; ZIFs in a smokestack would trap carbon dioxide in the pores prior to its delivery to its geologic storage space.” - said Omar M. Yaghi, UCLA’s Christopher S. Foote Professor of Chemistry and co-author of the Science paper. Quite a young chemist if you look at their UCLS’s newsletter.

And the best part is for each liter of this easily produced ZIF, they can hold up to 83 liters of carbon dioxide. I wonder could all these CO2 be:

Converted to dry ice,
Make use of them in carbonated drink industry,
Create supercritical carbon dioxide,
Store them at CO2 fire extinguisher,
Pump the carbon dioxide into ponds to grow algae that could then be converted into biodiesel
Pump into green house to boost plant growth
Can it be turn to fuel or DIAMOND!!!