Energy emissions and finite resources are a critical challenge for Australia and the world. Working to find an answer to this problem is CSIRO scientist, Matthew Hill.
Known as one of the CSIRO's new generation of young scientists, Hill is busy shaping an energy efficient future.
An entire football field of surfaces inside a teaspoon of powder might sound like science fiction, but this is exactly what Hill and his team of scientists have created in their lab. With the potential to completely transform the way we dispose of gases like carbon dioxide, Hill explains what this discovery means for all of us.
How are you using chemistry to have a large-scale positive impact on the environment?
Forty per cent of the energy used by large industry is used to separate one thing from another. The list is endless: separating bacteria from household water, separating crude oil into useable fuel, or separating minerals into copper and aluminium for our plumbing pipes or household appliances.
These processes are happening every day in every country sending vast amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
If we can find ways for these processes to use less energy and also capture the carbon dioxide before it goes into the atmosphere, we have the potential to make a huge difference.
What solution have you and your team created in the lab that has this kind of potential?
The technical term is ‘metal organic frameworks’ or MOFs. The simple explanation is that they are the world’s most porous material.
We create them with different combinations of metals and plastics which form structures that look like a sugar crystal on the nanoscale. Amazingly, inside they’re 80 per cent empty.
The ground-breaking part however is the net result of having a structure where every atom is exposed to empty space: one gram of MOF crystals has a surface area of over 5000 square metres.
What does that mean for the manufacturers and the processing plants who are responsible for so much energy use and the carbon dioxide?
There are so many possible applications of the MOF crystals we’re literally only limited by our imaginations at this point. For example if you put the powder in a tank it can store many more times gas in the same place, which saves on energy used for compression for that tank.
Another way they could use it is that we have designed MOFs which are specific to storing vast amounts of carbon dioxide, which could be used then to absorb all the dangerous gaseous waste from the factories.
What specific application of the MOFs are you and your team excited about at the moment?
We’ve been working with another team in Colorado, USA to try to make a filter for capturing carbon.
We experimented with putting the crystals into layers of plastic polymers, essentially making filtration layers that can be connected to a pollution stream. We thought these layers would only last for a week before they needed to be replaced.
About a month later the layers were still working. It turns out the polymers bonded to the crystals, essentially making a new material that will last for a few years instead of a few weeks, which drives down the cost and makes this a much more viable option.
It’s incredible how much we are still surprised by how things work, even as professional scientists. Whenever it happens to us it reminds me why I love my job. The possibility for discovery, surprise and entirely new ways of helping our human community is endless.
About the Author
Matthew Hill works in the Advanced materials section of the CSIRO in Melbourne.
Shaping an energy efficient future, Matthew is working on crystals that clean gas, water and air - and sponges that soak up pollution. With the potential to completely transform the way we dispose of gases like carbon dioxide, he is also focused on designing more cost effective solutions when it comes to energy. "At the heart of it for me, it's about doing something that can possibly help people,” he said.