Stories tagged Adam J. Matzger
MOF-74: hydrogen storage tank: MOF-74 resembles a series of tightly packed straws comprised mostly of carbon atoms (white balls) with columns of zinc ions (blue balls) running down the walls. Heavy hydrogen molecules (green balls) adsorbed in MOF-74 pack into the tubes more densely thaCourtesy NIST
Chemistry happens where molecules touch
Chemical interactions happen only when molecules "touch". To maximize these interactions simply maximize the surface area of the material.
More than an acre of surface in each gram
Scientists are now creating materials so porous that one gram of material (smaller than a pea) has more surface area than a football field (~4000 sq. meters).
MOF-74 (pictured) can soak up more unpressurized hydrogen than if the hydrogen were compressed into a solid. Until recently the threshold for surface area was 3,000 square meters per gram. Then in 2004, a U-M team reported development of a material known as MOF-177 (metal-organic frameworks) that has the surface area of a football field.
New material breaks surface area record
"Pushing beyond that point has been difficult," Matzger said, but his group achieved the feat with the new material, UMCM-2 (University of Michigan Crystalline Material-2), which has a record-breaking surface area of more than 5,000 square meters per gram. J of Amer Chem
Learn more
New Nanoporous Material Has Highest Surface Area Yet
More Solid than Solid: A Potential Hydrogen-Storage Compound
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Catfish skullEvery month we pull an object out of the Science Museum of Minnesota's collections and put it on display here at the museum and let you write your own label for the object. This month's we found a catfish skull and it looks particularly cool to my eyes. It's spiky and and kinda looks like it has a mohawk.
What do you think about this unique fish? Head on over to the object of the month and try your hand at writing a label.
