Atomis developed its innovative material, a metal-organic framework (MOF), on the basis of research by Susumu Kitagawa, a professor of engineering at Kyoto University’s Institute for Advanced Study. The firm says its MOFs have porosity that can be adjusted at the nanometer level and harnessed for functions such as adsorption, separation, storage, catalysis, and electron transmission. The gas cylinders that incorporate Atomis’s MOFs are branded as CubiTan. They can be used for conventional propane delivery, CEO Daisuke Asari says, and to store methane that is captured from sewage sludge, food waste, and livestock. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and burning such methane as fuel rather than letting it dissipate into the atmosphere offers huge carbon savings, Asari says.
by Katsumori Matsuoka, special to C&EN | August 15, 2022
For example, MOF Technologies, based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, applies extrusion methods to manufacture metal-organic frameworks. The company can produce about 15 kg of materials per hour, which is enough to supply customers and research partners but still needs to be scaled up further for other industrial applications.
by Fernando Gomollón-Bel, special to C&EN | August 11, 2022
—Metal-organic framework firm Mosaic Materials is bought by Baker Hughes “” The oil field services and equipment firm Baker Hughes has purchased Mosaic Materials, which makes carbon dioxide–capturing materials based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Mosaic’s MOFs are best suited to pulling CO2 out of ambient air, executives at the firm told C&EN earlier this year, and Mosaic has been transitioning its R&D focus from MOF chemistry to the design and optimization of a direct-air-CO2-capture system based on its materials.
by Craig Bettenhausen | April 23, 2022