New material steals oxygen from the air: One spoonful absorbs all the oxygen in a room.

[landshark sa]

Researchers from the University of Southern Denmark have synthesized crystalline materials that can bind and store oxygen in high concentrations. Just one spoon of the substance is enough to absorb all the oxygen in a room. The stored oxygen can be released again when and where it is needed.

We do fine with the 21 per cent oxygen in the air around us. But sometimes we need oxygen in higher concentrations; for example lung patients must carry heavy oxygen tanks, cars using fuel cells need a regulated oxygen supply. Perhaps one day in the future even sunlight-driven "reversible" fuel cells will be made. With these we will have to separate oxygen from hydrogen in order to recombine them in order to get energy.

"In the lab, we saw how this material took up oxygen from the air around us," says Christine McKenzie.

The new material is crystalline, and using x-ray diffraction the researchers have studied the arrangement of atoms inside the material when it was filled with oxygen, and when it was emptied of oxygen.

Oxygen comes and goes in many places

The fact that a substance can react with oxygen is not surprising. Lots of substances do this -- and the result is not always desirable: Food can go rancid when exposed to oxygen. On the other hand a wine's taste and aroma is changed subtly when we aerate it -- but not with too much oxygen! Our bodies cannot function if we do not breathe.

"An important aspect of this new material is that it does not react irreversibly with oxygen -- even though it absorbs oxygen in a so-called selective chemisorptive process. The material is both a sensor, and a container for oxygen -- we can use it to bind, store and transport oxygen -- like a solid artificial hemoglobin," says Christine McKenzie.

The material is so effective at binding oxygen, that only a spoon of it is enough to suck up all the oxygen in a room. The researchers' work indicates that the substance can absorb and bind oxygen in a concentration 160 times larger than the concentration in the air around us.

"It is also interesting that the material can absorb and release oxygen many times without losing the ability. It is like dipping a sponge in water, squeezing the water out of it and repeating the process over and over again," Christine McKenzie explains.

Once the oxygen has been absorbed you can keep it stored in the material until you want to release it. The oxygen can be released by gently heating the material or subjecting it to low oxygen pressures.

Heat and pressure releases the stored oxygen

"We see release of oxygen when we heat up the material, and we have also seen it when we apply vacuum. We are now wondering if light can also be used as a trigger for the material to release oxygen -- this has prospects in the growing field of artificial photosynthesis," says Christine McKenzie.

The key component of the new material is the element cobalt, which is bound in a specially designed organic molecule.

"Cobalt gives the new material precisely the molecular and electronic structure that enables it to absorb oxygen from its surroundings. This mechanism is well known from all breathing creatures on earth: Humans and many other species use iron, while other animals, like crabs and spiders, use copper. Small amounts of metals are essential for the absorption of oxygen, so actually it is not entirely surprising to see this effect in our new material," explains Christine McKenzie.

Depending on the atmospheric oxygen content, temperature, pressure, etc. it takes seconds, minutes, hours or days for the substance to absorb oxygen from its surroundings. Different versions of the substance can bind oxygen at different speeds. With this complexity it becomes possible to produce devices that release and/or absorb oxygen under different circumstances -- for example a mask containing layers of these materials in the correct sequence might actively supply a person with oxygen directly from the air without the help of pumps or high pressure equipment.

"When the substance is saturated with oxygen, it can be compared to an oxygen tank containing pure oxygen under pressure -- the difference is that this material can hold three times as much oxygen," says Christine McKenzie.

"This could be valuable for lung patients who today must carry heavy oxygen tanks with them. But also divers may one day be able to leave the oxygen tanks at home and instead get oxygen from this material as it "filters" and concentrates oxygen from surrounding air or water. A few grains contain enough oxygen for one breath, and as the material can absorb oxygen from the water around the diver and supply the diver with it, the diver will not need to bring more than these few grains."

The substance has been designed and synthesized at University of Southern Denmark. Some of the gas uptake measurements have been made with special equipment by colleagues at the University of Sydney, Australia.

Original article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140930113254.htm

 

[Charles Clements]

Thank you Christine McKenzie. Not only do we now have a way for the government to tax the air that we breath, but terrorist wont need an atomic bomb because they can charge us to breath. Air any one? Terrorist have a sale going on - $12.00 a breath. So much for the saying, "Don't hold your breath". I wonder how long it will be before we find this stuff littering the streets: lead, PCB, now this stuff.

 

[Kars]

Am I the only one thinking this could be an rather effective weapon?

 

[Azrael3000]

Wow, congratulations you brainwashed people. Instead of thinking about all the benefits such a technology will bring, the first thing you think about are terrorists and weapons? Sure it might be used as such, but there are already plenty of options for killing somebody. And how should the government tax air because of such a technology, are you for real? *shakes head* So instead think positive, diving without a bottle? By absorbing air from the water. That sound pretty nice to me.

Edit: I normally try not to write posts that start flamewars, but a post that contains so much BS as by Charles should not be left unanswered.

 

[Siku]

"Sucks the O2 out of a room", sounds pretty dangerous and clearly has military application. If it can kill humans without damaging property some people will get very excited..

As to the use to divers, I can't see how a freediver benefits? Suck on the crystals?! But it could make for smaller scuba tanks which can't be a bad thing.

 

[Azrael3000]

Of course Siku, but this is a problem with pretty much every invention ever made. Some people will always abuse them as weapons. A good example for that are drones, where you can go e.g. from an observing machine in an earthquake hit area to a weapon by changing the payload. As a scientist myself this is something I think that everyone needs to be aware of. But in the end our governments dictate the use of weapons (mostly at least) and so it is up to them (and so the people) to stop such things from happening, see e.g. the ban on landmines.

To your second point. I don't think this will benefit freedivers. It's more an alternative / enhancement to scuba diving I guess.

 

[Kars]

I agree that most, if not any invention can and has been used for good and bad.
The only problem I have with certain inventions that I fear 1 person or small group can hold the world or a part of it hostage, demanding tribute, due to an power disparity. According to late professor Carol Quickly, Bill Clinton's mentor, and historian for the CFR, the turn of the 20th century (late 1800's early 1900's), was the time where their was the least power disparity between people and governments. Hence people began successfully claiming rights and demanding lower taxation. Some even successfully done away with government all together like Catalonia (North-west Spain), where they still have a strong yearning for independence.

With computers, artificial intelligence, a person can use these tools to enslave or kill.
And there are many people who think there are too many people on this planet, I mean THEIR planet. When asked why, they say to few resources. When asking how many should there be, they'll say 1.000.000.000 or 500.000.000 or less. Do they volunteer to stop their lineage? Off cause not, they are special. Who will do the work of the reduced population? machines. Why? Machines are much more efficient, last longer, use much less resources and do not complain. To them we're just inefficient resource labourers, working our buts off to make the machines to render ourselves obsolete.
When will it stop? I fear it won't, until it's too late, like an addict who cannot stop.

Azrael, I really like science and invention, I really do, I just fear the ambitious control freaks. I do not want to give the next 'Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Caesar, etc.' any more tools to rule, kill and exploit the globe.

 

[Charles Clements]

Wow, congratulations you brainwashed people. Instead of thinking about all the benefits such a technology will bring, the first thing you think about are terrorists and weapons? Sure it might be used as such, but there are already plenty of options for killing somebody. And how should the government tax air because of such a technology, are you for real? *shakes head* So instead think positive, diving without a bottle? By absorbing air from the water. That sound pretty nice to me.

Edit: I normally try not to write posts that start flamewars, but a post that contains so much BS as by Charles should not be left unanswered.

You are right. I did go a little over the edge. Maybe I have been watching too many movies. It is never the good things that cause trouble but the unexpected things that cause alarm. Remember how they used to use lead in gasoline? Do you remember how the use of asbestos in paint caused alarm? Do you remember how PCB's were disposed of when it was discovered how harmful it was? Do you remember how the environmentalist used to chase ships around trying to prevent them from dumping hazardous waste into the ocean? Did you ever see any of those news reports where some major corporation had dumped some hazardous waste into the ground only to find it coming back out to the surface by way of spring water? Personally, I do not trust any one when it comes to chemicals. Next time I will try to be more rational. Thank you.

 

[Charles Clements]

I agree that most, if not any invention can and has been used for good and bad.
The only problem I have with certain inventions that I fear 1 person or small group can hold the world or a part of it hostage, demanding tribute, due to an power disparity. According to late professor Carol Quickly, Bill Clinton's mentor, and historian for the CFR, the turn of the 20th century (late 1800's early 1900's), was the time where their was the least power disparity between people and governments. Hence people began successfully claiming rights and demanding lower taxation. Some even successfully done away with government all together like Catalonia (North-west Spain), where they still have a strong yearning for independence.

With computers, artificial intelligence, a person can use these tools to enslave or kill.
And there are many people who think there are too many people on this planet, I mean THEIR planet. When asked why, they say to few resources. When asking how many should there be, they'll say 1.000.000.000 or 500.000.000 or less. Do they volunteer to stop their lineage? Off cause not, they are special. Who will do the work of the reduced population? machines. Why? Machines are much more efficient, last longer, use much less resources and do not complain. To them we're just inefficient resource labourers, working our buts off to make the machines to render ourselves obsolete.
When will it stop? I fear it won't, until it's too late, like an addict who cannot stop.

Azrael, I really like science and invention, I really do, I just fear the ambitious control freaks. I do not want to give the next 'Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Caesar, etc.' any more tools to rule, kill and exploit the globe.

Right! Like the movie (I really have to stop watching those things.) Dragon Day when China came to collect on tis debt. Well, being more real, there are such things as Hackers who love to pour their viruses into every one else's computers. (I am going to give up on movies and watch more DeeperBlue videos.)

 

[artiz]

All interesting points so far and top thread landshark... what puzzled me the most was why ScienceDaily described the material's chemical process as 'stealing' the Oxygen... hardly a positively titled report is it? What an extraordinary development though... a material that absorbs oxygen from water would totally revolutionise SCUBA... all that expensive kit & caboodle 'gone' in one fell swoop... can't see the manufacturers liking that too much...

 

[Andrew the fish]

Am I the only one thinking this could be an rather effective weapon?

it could be weaponised for sure. Probably in a different way than what you were thinking. Like perhaps oxygen-rich cristalls being a part of explosive mixture, or perhaps as a fire accelerants. Or a a component of a solid rocket boosters mixture. On the other hand, powdered cristaline substance depleted of oxigen could be a fire retardant and help to keep certain structures from being consumed by fire. It could also be used to keep steel compartments from rusting by depleting the oxygen in those compartments, like void spaces on ships and barges and pontoons for example. Though I don't believe it will replace other methods of storing the oxygen, like compressing or liquifying. Somehow I can't think of this crystaline material helping spear fisherman to hold his breath longer

 

[Kars]

Now when I think of it, I think there are oxygen absorbing products for sale to be used for food storage; helping sealed foods from rotting by absorbing the oxygen.
But this new product may be able to release the stored oxygen, or release it faster.

 

[Andrew the fish]

or it could be used to separate nitrogen from air by absorbing oxygen. Or as a scrubber for inert gas systems on tankers, or in any similar application where oxygen levels required to be low, like natural gas or propane containers or even wheat silo's.