BASF says it is the first company to produce metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) on a production scale of several hundred tons per year. The highly crystalline structures with nanometer-sized pores and a large surface area offer high capacity, for example, for the storage of CO₂, dehumidifying air for room climate control, and adsorption of the greenhouse gas methane. BASF has developed expertise in scaling up and producing MOFs, can tailor MOFs to customer needs and specifications, and manufacture customized MOFs for various applications and industries.

A first project has now been completed: Their researchers and experts converted a laboratory formulation of the Canadian company Svante Technologies Inc. (Svante) into a safe plant process for large-scale production. The MOFs produced will serve as solid sorbents for carbon capture projects for Svante.

• BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany