Enhanced Filtration Materials for Indoor Air Pollutants

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Air quality is a public health issue under ever-increasing scrutiny. With people in the UK spending the majority of their time in indoor environments, air quality at home, in the workplace, and in our schools is now receiving significant attention. A wide range of pollutants may be found in indoor environments and the health impacts associated with these pollutants is increasingly being understood. Current air purification technologies can remove some of these pollutants, but new filtration materials are required to reliably meet air quality standards outlined by healthcare experts.Immaterial is a materials company spun out from the University of Cambridge in 2015\. Immaterial was founded on a unique technology that enables the development of cutting-edge materials called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) such that they may be integrated into filter systems. MOFs are nanoporous materials that act as "molecular sponges". They can be tuned at the molecular level, meaning specific pollutants can be targeted and removed with far greater efficiency than traditional filtration materials such as activated carbons or zeolites. This tunability also means that a single MOF (or a small selection of MOFs) can be chosen to effectively filter a broad range of pollutants.Immaterial is currently applying this technology to develop filters for automotive, aerospace and defence settings. In this project, Immaterial will take a similar approach to develop MOF materials tuned for the pollutants and conditions found in the UK domestic environment. Immaterial will collaborate with industrial and academic partners to integrate these materials into prototypes of familiar systems such as air purifying fans and mechanical ventilation units and demonstrate the enhanced performance. Initial pollutants to be addressed will be nitrogen dioxide and non-methane volatile organic compounds -- two of the five key pollutants identified by the UK government. MOFs have the potential to target all of the key pollutants and, in the future, Immaterial aims to develop greater functionality in its materials to fully meet these needs.