Did you know that metal-organic frameworks, MOFs for short, have the largest surface area of any materials known? Just one gram of MOFs can offer a surface area of about 10,000m2. To put that into perspective, if you laid out the available surface area in a teaspoon of this material, it would cover an entire football field.
So, what exactly are MOFs? They are an innovative class of advanced materials which were first documented about 30 years ago. MOFs are a porous, sponge-like material, and much like the way a sponge can absorb large quantities of liquid, these materials can adsorb large quantities of gas. MOFs can be used to selectively capture, store or separate gases and liquids. These two key characteristics combined mean that MOFs have a wide range of potential applications.
One application is in the gas storage industry such as natural gas for vehicular transport and storage of hazardous gases. Another application MOFs can be used for is in gas capture and separation processes such as carbon capture and storage and a range of industrial processes.
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