The surprisingly useful liquids that mop up gases like a sponge

HAVE you ever stopped to see the technological marvel that is the humble room sponge? Liquids thin to beryllium unruly, sploshy things, but, with a speedy swipe, a sponge tin soak up and transport them to wherever they are needed. It would each beryllium alternatively miraculous were it not truthful familiar.

But here’s a question that is simply a small much retired of the ordinary: could we marque a liquid sponge? It would beryllium benignant of similar the household variety, lone it would suck up gases alternatively of liquids and it could beryllium pumped implicit immense distances. That would marque it incredibly useful. After all, we are successful the mediate of a climate emergency caused by the emanation of greenhouse gases specified arsenic c dioxide and methane. A liquid sponge could supply a amended mode of sucking up those gases and preventing them from causing harm.

You mightiness expect the conception of a spongy liquid to beryllium a non-starter. As astir of america learned successful school, a liquid is thing that fills up the bottommost of immoderate instrumentality it is poured into – nary holes oregon spaces allowed. Yet successful labs astir the world, chemists are creating a affluent assortment of cleverly designed liquid sponges and putting them to the test. We are astir to find retired conscionable however utile this quirky exertion truly is.

What are porous liquids?

The communicative of liquid sponges – sometimes called porous liquids – begins successful 2007 erstwhile chemist Stuart James began moving astatine Queen’s University Belfast successful the UK. He was researching solids known arsenic metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), cage-like compounds made of metallic ions and carbon-based molecules. The peculiar happening astir …