The powder absorbs CO2 from the air and can be reused 100 times

Omar Yaghi, a chemistry professor at the University of California Berkeley, and his colleagues invented a powder material that can absorb CO2 with incredible efficiency. Just 200 g of powder can absorb 20 kg of CO2, equivalent to the capacity of a tree in a year. New Atlas reported on October 27. New research published in the journal Nature.

The new material is called COF-999, in which COF stands for Covalent Organic Frameworks. This term refers to a type of porous crystalline material with large pores, large surface area, and low density. This makes COF suitable for direct air capture (DAC) – the process of removing CO2 from the air.

COF-999 has holes containing amino compounds, which can attach to CO2 molecules. The porous structure gives the material a large surface area to capture carbon, while its covalent bonds are strong. When air passes through COF-999, the basic amino polymers in this powder adhere to and “capture” CO2.

Compared with old DAC materials, COF-999 has many advantages. First, without heating, this material can absorb CO2 right at room temperature. It can also be reused at least 100 times without degradation or loss of performance, and can selectively absorb large amounts of CO2. According to Zihui Zhou, co-author of the new study, COF-999 absorbs CO2 at least 10 times faster than other DAC materials.

After absorbing CO2, the powder can be heated to 60 degrees Celsius to release CO2. This amount of CO2 will then be permanently stored in underground geological structures so as not to pollute the atmosphere, or used to produce materials such as concrete and plastic.

DAC plants exist or are being built in many parts of the world, but they are expensive and require a lot of energy to operate. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), the current cost to remove 1 ton of CO2 from the air is 600 – 1,000 USD. The WEF said last year that this figure needs to fall below $200 for the technology to be widely adopted.

Meanwhile, COF-999 needs to be tested and refined further before being widely available. According to Yaghi, that process could take about two years. COF-999 can be optimized to absorb more CO2 and increase the number of capture cycles. Yaghi also said that the production of COF-999 does not require expensive materials.