Crystal sponges to clean up waste

A research collaboration led by CSIRO has developed sponge-like crystals that clean up contaminants in industrial waste and soil.

The crystals are made of extremely porous metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and have an internal storage capacity of 7000 m², which is equal to the size of a football oval in a single gram. This means the crystals can filter huge volumes of industrial wastewater, trapping large amounts of contaminants including carcinogenic material and heavy metals.

Producing MOF crystals has traditionally been a lengthy and energy-intensive process, due to the amount of heating and cooling required. But CSIRO’s new method is performed at room temperature and has reduced the production time from up to two days down to 15 minutes. It has been published in the journal Chemistry of Materials.

“We’ve estimated that this process could cut the cost to make MOFs by thousands of dollars for Australian manufacturers,” said CSIRO research team leader Dr Paolo Falcaro.

“While we’ve initially used the method to create zinc oxide-based MOFs, it could be applied to a range of different MOFs with applications spanning energy and pharmaceuticals.”

CSIRO’s Dr Paolo Falcaro.

CSIRO is now seeking to work with Australian chemical manufacturers to further develop the method and explore turning the crystals into a sustainable industrial waste management product.

Top image caption: Close-up of the metal organic framework crystals.