Researchers affiliated with the Center for Advanced Materials for Environmental Solutions (CAMES) have developed a new design strategy for improving materials used in direct air capture of carbon dioxide. The work, published on December 21 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), was selected as an Editor’s Choice, recognizing its scientific significance and potential environmental impact.
The study was led by Prof. Laura Gagliardi (UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and Department of Chemistry), co-director of CAMES, in collaboration with Nobel laureate Prof. Omar Yaghi (University of California, Berkeley). First author Hilal Daglar, a postdoctoral researcher in the Gagliardi Group at the time of the study, used advanced computational modeling to investigate discrepancies between theoretical predictions and experimental measurements in covalent organic frameworks (COFs) designed for CO₂ capture.
Rather than treating these mismatches as failures, the team identified residual water in the material as a key factor limiting performance. This insight led to a clear and actionable design rule: introducing hydrophobic pore environments during synthesis prevents water retention, avoids blockage of adsorption sites, and significantly improves carbon capture efficiency.
The work exemplifies CAMES’ mission to bridge fundamental materials discovery with scalable environmental solutions, demonstrating how theory-guided insights can directly inform the design of more effective technologies for addressing air pollution and climate change.
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