Today, removing significant amounts of carbon dioxide (the main catalyst of the greenhouse effect) from the atmosphere is an impossible task, both in terms of the cost and efficiency of the process. Scientists in the United States have managed to optimize the process, creating a miracle powder with record CO2 absorption that could be put into commercial use within a few years.

A group of scientists from the University of California at Berkeley worked on the discovery for more than 30 years. They studied compounds belonging to covalent organic frameworks that have a porous structure and therefore have a large adsorption area.

The structure developed by scientists based on amine bonds, which are active in capturing carbon dioxide molecules, turned out to be more successful than previous solutions. Only 200g of COF-999 powder can absorb 20kg of CO from the air₂. No material today can do this. By comparison, the average tree absorbs approximately this much carbon dioxide per year.

For a number of previous methods of directly capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, amines (polyamines) were also used, but in liquid solutions. Also similar heating is required for better reaction. The COF-999 material operates as a dry powder at room temperature, which makes it easier to work with, the scientists said. Then heating the powder to 60°C releases CO₂ and allows the dust to capture it again. This can be done up to 100 times with each serving of COF-999. The released gas can be buried or put into production. Also, according to scientists, COF-999 powder absorbs CO₂ It is 10 times faster than air compared to other substances with similar purposes.

If scientists can increase the absorption capacity and number of operating cycles, they expect the new material to be available in about two years.