AMAZE : Advanced MOF-loaded Air-pollution control and Zero-emission Electrospun filters

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Over 34 billion tonnes of CO2 are emitted into the atmosphere annually worldwide, 73.2 % from the energy sector by burning fossil fuels. CO2 is a greenhouse gas and contributes to global warming, which is why the UK government as part of the Net Zero UN Coalition have set a target for all sectors to decarbonise to reach net zero targets by 2050\.The AMAZE project will produce a high-volume commercial filtration media that will capture CO2 at the point of source. Offering a game-changing innovation to the Carbon Capture (CC) market with higher adsorption capacity, and lower regeneration energy requirements.Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are highly functional chemicals that can be tailored to capture CO2 more efficiently and requiring less energy to be regenerated. Being a powder, the challenge is that they need to be supported on a highly breathable substrate so they can be reused.Nanofibres are 500x smaller than a human hair and collectively produce porous non-woven sheets. With extremely high surface areas and the ability to carry particles like MOFs, nanofibres are perfectly suited to the task. MOF-loaded nanofibres will revolutionise the current approaches to CO2 capture with a universal filter which offers a low-cost, high-efficiency alternative to current systems.The International Energy Agency (IEA) has highlighted Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage as a priority action in their Roadmap to Net Zero by 2050\. Carbon capture reduces the CO2 produced during industry by capturing it before is enters the atmosphere. This captured CO2 then gets bottled up and either transported for permanent storage, or processed into a useful product, like plastics, chemicals, or new fuel.Traditionally, capturing the carbon can be an energy-intensive process with chemicals that are hard to dispose of when depleted, which often defeats the original environmental goals. Innovation and increased adoption of new and existing technology is needed to reach Net Zero goals. novoMOF (Switzerland) a pioneer and manufacturer of MOFs, and NanoLayr (UK) a developer and manufacturer of nanofibres; are integrating these two technologies to bring transformation to the Carbon Capture market and produce a commercial MOF-loaded nanofibre sheet. The resulting sheets will be directly applicable to current high-volume air filters, meaning they can be used to stop CO2 from entering the atmosphere without any major infrastructure being needed. This cheap, low-energy solution has the potential to have a huge impact on the planet's carbon problem.