ACR Journal

October | November 2021 AIR TREATMENT 26 Dr Conor Hamill, chief operating officer at MOF Technologies, highlights why introducing metal organic frameworks into a building improves air quality and leads to better building efficiency. MOFs: the solution for maintaining good indoor air quality? Volume 7 No.6 Air quality is firmly on the agenda. You only need a quick look through the news to see the growing body of research now making a direct link between prolonged exposure to pollution and poor health. Rightly, much of the e ort is focused on improving outdoor air quality – particularly in major cities that regularly exceed annual legal limits within the first few weeks of a new year. However, less attention is given to the e ects of poor indoor air quality, particularly in public buildings and other environments such as corporate oces where large numbers of people are likely to congregate for extended periods. Maintaining these environments is dicult, not least because there are a growing number of factors to consider. For example, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide removal are well-established challenges, but there are also other more mysterious issues, like Sick Building Syndrome, that pose a growing challenge to those responsible for maintaining healthy indoor environments. The good news is that new approaches are emerging to transform the way indoor air quality is managed. MOFs, or metal- organic frameworks, represent one of these new opportunities, helping to improve the standard of indoor air we breathe and lowering the amount of energy used to create a comfortable building. What are MOFs? MOFs are a new class of crystalline super- adsorbent. Composed of metal ions and organic linkers, they can be formed in one-, two- and three-dimensional structures. Their highly porous nature often sees them likened to sponges, though, unlike that material, MOFs can be designed to capture, store and release specific gases. This process is done through a careful selection of metals and linkers during the first stages of synthesis. It is this bespoke quality along with a high storage capacity that gives MOFs so much promise. Other adsorbents, like activated carbon and silica gel, cannot hold anywhere near as much medium and cannot be used in such a selective way. On the other hand, MOFs o er record-breaking Dr Conor Hamill Shaped MOF product