Gas Adsorption in Metal-Organic Frameworks - Essay Example

This is essentially a tool to custom build materials for various ranges of gas adsorption requirements. Also, the new materials can adsorb gases both superficially and morphologically, which is probably why they are capable of adsorbing larger volumes of gases reversibly than any other materials available today. The specific properties that determine the functionalities of the final product are the length and functionalities of the organic units as well as the number of rings that are within these units.

The metallic portions aid in the process of strengthening the bonds within the crystalline structures of the materials which are thus quite robust and can thus undergo adsorption without breaking up. The true implications of these combined functionalities of these new materials are that they can be utilized for such urgent functions as adsorbing greenhouse emission gases like carbon dioxide and energy-relevant gases like hydrogen. Two major problems that face the World community at large are - global warming and the energy crisis.

The first is a phenomenon that is created by the annually increasing emission of carbon dioxide as a result of burning of fossil fuels to meet energy needs. Emission statistics shows that the volume of emission has been steadily increasing yearly since the industrial revolution of the 18th and 19th century when large-scale usage of fossil fuels began to feed the energy needs of organized industry. The increasing yearly discharge of the gas from that time has upset the balance of natural composition of the atmosphere.

Though carbon dioxide is being increasingly released into the atmosphere it is not being removed from it at the same rate. The result is excessive percentage of the gas in the atmosphere. Since the gas is relatively heavy it remains close to the ground acting