The United States has invented a new process to produce materials that can efficiently absorb carbon dioxide

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A plastic called polyethylene imine (PEI) has a strong ability to adsorb carbon dioxide on its surface; therefore, if it is possible to maximize the surface area per unit mass of PEI, it will be able to absorb the most carbon dioxide. Recently, a research team led by George Olah, a professor at the University of Southern California in the United States and winner of the 1994 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, successfully developed a new process to solve this problem. The researchers first dissolved PEI in methanol, then poured this solution into molten silica (glass) material and stirred it. Once the methanol evaporated and the silica cooled, a porous solid material was formed, with a very thin layer of PEI adsorbed on the inner walls of the numerous pores. Tests have shown that this material possesses three valuable properties: first, it can absorb carbon dioxide at room temperature ； Secondly, its carbon dioxide adsorption capacity of 1.72 nanomoles per gram is the highest to date ； Thirdly, when this material is heated to 85°C, carbon dioxide is completely released, allowing the material to be reused; in contrast, an amino-based material developed earlier, known as Aminosilica, requires heating to 800°C. Furthermore, the price of the new material is much lower than that of Aminosilica. Experts believe that if this material is widely spread in urban areas with high carbon dioxide concentrations in the future, it can act as an artificial forest and help address climate change ； The pure carbon dioxide obtained through centralized recovery can then be combined with hydrogen extracted from seawater to produce the fuel methanol.