[Nat Mater] Material Found Capable of Light-Activated Trapping and Conversion of Selected Gases

July 26, 2010

As part of a Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) initiative to promote basic scientific research in strategic fields, a team of Kyoto University scientists has announced the discovery of a light-activated porous crystal capable of selectively trapping and converting gas molecules.

The findings by Kyoto University's Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) Prof and Deputy Director Susumu Kitagawa, Assoc Prof Ryotato Matsuda, a group leader in the ERATO Kitagawa Integrated Pores Project, and project member and JST Research Associate Dr Hiroshi Sato, were published on July 23 in the online edition of Nature Materials.

The crystal, a porous coordination polymer or PCP, consists initially of a regular structure of zinc ions and stable aryl azide molecules. But when exposed to ultraviolet light, the aryl azides become highly reactive aryl nitrenes capable not only of capturing oxygen and carbon monoxide, but also of converting these to other substances.

This research, jointly conducted by Kyoto University, the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI), and RIKEN, shows promise in leading to the development of new types of light-activated porous crystals capable of capturing nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, and various other gases considered harmful to life and the environment.

Extenal LinkPhotoactivation of a nanoporous crystal for on-demand guest trapping and conversion

Hiroshi Sato, Ryotaro Matsuda, Kunihisa Sugimoto, Masaki Takata and Susumu Kitagawa

Nature Materials 9, 661-666 (2010) | DOI: 10.1038/nmat2808

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