{"id":582351,"date":"2026-08-12T10:44:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T10:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/582351\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T10:44:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T10:44:20","slug":"shape-shifting-mof-works-wonders-for-heating-and-cooling-across-climates-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/582351\/","title":{"rendered":"Shape-shifting MOF works wonders for heating and cooling across climates | Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

A metal\u2013organic framework (MOF) is capable of cooling and heating without external electrical inputs. Additionally, the material works well across a wide range of temperatures, which could contribute to greener thermal solutions across climates.1<\/p>\n

\"Figure\"<\/p>\n

In 2022, researchers at the University of A Coru\u00f1a in Spain, discovered the shape shifting properties of a particular MOF during adsorption and desorption of carbon dioxide triggered temperature changes<\/a>. Now, subsequent studies on the same material have unveiled exciting new applications. \u2018While previously a swinging pressure produced the effect, our new approach maintains a static pressure of carbon dioxide,\u2019 explains lead author Juan Manuel Berm\u00fadez-Garc\u00eda<\/a>. In this \u2018reversed\u2019 system, the external temperature triggers adsorption and desorption of carbon dioxide, making the MOF a self-regulating solution to store heat. \u2018During the day, as temperature rises, carbon dioxide is desorbed, which counterintuitively cools down the MOF, and could cool down our buildings,\u2019 says Berm\u00fadez-Garc\u00eda. At night, the opposite process pushes the pores to readsorb carbon dioxide, heating the house back up.<\/p>\n

\u2018This is a novel way to think about using these materials,\u2019 says Claire Hobday<\/a>, an expert in solid state refrigeration at the University of Edinburgh, UK, who wasn\u2019t involved in the study. At a fixed pressure, heating up the MOF \u2018causes a cooling effect\u2019 because it experiences \u2018an endothermic phase transition\u2019, she explains. Interestingly, researchers can change \u2018the charge and discharge temperatures\u2019 by fluctuating the fixed gas pressure. Therefore, \u2018the same material [could] adapt to different heating and cooling needs\u2019, says Hobday.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, the transition temperature of thermal materials is predetermined by the energy requirements of the phase change. However, these shape shifting MOFs \u2018are extremely pressure sensitive\u2019, says Berm\u00fadez-Garc\u00eda. \u2018Small shifts in the static pressure of CO2 \u2013 between 5 and 25 bar \u2013 already alter the transition temperature dramatically, from \u201330\u00baC to 120\u00baC,\u2019 he adds. In contrast, current technologies only achieved ranges of 40\u00baC, with even bigger boosts of pressurisation up to 1000 bar \u2013 the pressure at the deepest parts of our oceans, explains Berm\u00fadez-Garc\u00eda. \u2018This solves a significant challenge in thermal storage,2 adaptability across climates, which previously required a myriad of materials.\u2019<\/p>\n

The MOF would work \u2018in sunny Spain or rainy Scotland\u2019, says Hobday. \u2018It\u2019s exciting for the field.\u2019 The material also allows for interesting scenarios, playing with pressure and phase changes. For example, this MOF can absorb heat at low temperatures and releases it in hot weather. This is \u2018not breaking any thermodynamic laws, [but demonstrates] a very thorough understanding\u2019 of the different phase transitions, explains Hobday. Once the carbon dioxide is inside the MOF, the shape-shifting process at low pressure results in the absorption of heat. Then, pressurising the system, the transition temperature increases, making the MOF release heat at higher temperatures, a process potentially interesting for energy efficient industrial applications. \u2018Absorbing and storing heat at low temperatures is easier and cheaper,\u2019 says Berm\u00fadez-Garc\u00eda. \u2018We could compress carbon dioxide in our MOF to release heat at high temperatures, which is usually costly.\u2019<\/p>\n

Finally, the team from A Coru\u00f1a also adapted a mathematical model to screen published papers and databases for cooling applications. This theoretical thermodynamic framework predicts properties such as pressure, the transition temperatures and the magnitude of the MOF capacity for heat exchange. In the US, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has created a curated catalogue of MOF adsorption isotherms, explains Hobday. Together with this simulation model, these resources could become \u2018essential to [the] discovery of novel shape-shifting MOFs with refrigerant potential\u2019, she notes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A metal\u2013organic framework (MOF) is capable of cooling and heating without external electrical inputs. Additionally, the material works…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[85,46,125],"class_list":["post-582351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}