{"id":433200,"date":"2026-05-05T10:05:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T10:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/433200\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T10:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T10:05:08","slug":"mof-glass-breakthrough-enables-easier-carbon-capture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/433200\/","title":{"rendered":"MOF Glass Breakthrough Enables Easier Carbon Capture"},"content":{"rendered":"

The international research team, including scientists from Birmingham University<\/a> and TU Dortmund University<\/a>, report that MOF glasses can be tuned and engineered in the same way as traditional glasses. Their findings are detailed in Nature Chemistry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The team found that adding small chemical compounds containing sodium or lithium to the glass changes its behaviour and structure; the chemicals lower the temperature at which the glass softens and change how easily it flows when heated, which makes manufacturing easier.<\/p>\n

MORE FROM MATERIALS<\/a><\/p>\n

The discovery, claimed to provide a new design framework for making customised MOF glasses for advanced technological applications, could unlock new possibilities for high performance materials used in gas separation, chemical storage, and advanced coatings.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Birmingham University\u2019s Dr Dominik Kubicki said: \u201cGlass has been part of human civilisation for millennia. From ancient Mesopotamia to modern fibre-optic cables, small amounts of chemical modifiers make it easier to process glass and change its functional properties.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, MOF glasses soften only at high temperatures – above 300\u00b0C – close to their degradation temperature, making manufacturing challenging and limiting broader use. This discovery unlocks new possibilities for future high-performance materials.\u201d<\/p>\n

A well-known known example of MOF glass is ZIF-62, a porous material that can be melted and cooled into a glass while retaining part of its internal porosity; which makes it attractive for applications in gas separation, membranes and catalysis.<\/p>\n

Professor Sebastian Henke, from TU Dortmund University, said: \u201cOur approach is inspired by how conventional silicate glasses have been modified: disrupting the network structure to tune melting behaviour and mechanical properties.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur study shows the same principle can be transferred to hybrid metal-organic glasses. This advance brings MOF glasses a step closer to real-world manufacturing and applications in gas separation, storage, catalysis and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

Understanding how the sodium additives alter the internal structure of the glass required advanced characterisation techniques. Birmingham University researchers – led by Drs Dominik Kubicki and Benjamin Gallant – contributed atomic-level analysis of the modified glass structure, as well as performing high-temperature solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy experiments at the UK High-Field Solid-State NMR Facility<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This work allowed the team to understand precisely how sodium ions integrate into the glass network and how they disrupt its connectivity.<\/p>\n

Birmingham researchers, led by Professor Andrew Morris and Dr Mario Ongkiko, then used AI-driven computational modelling to interpret complex NMR data. Using machine-learning-assisted simulations revealed how sodium interacted with the glass structure, thereby validating experimental observations.<\/p>\n

The experimental and computational findings show that sodium does more than occupy vacant sites; it replaces some zinc atoms, subtly relaxing the structure.<\/p>\n

With this mechanism now understood, the study calls for further research to improve material stability, enhance predictive modelling, and assess performance in practical applications.<\/p>\n

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