Capturing Xenon: an exploration of the chemistry required to capture Xenon gas
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Dr.
Steven McGuigan
Project Details
Xenon gas has been used by anaesthetists for over 70 years, showing several benefits compared to conventional inhaled anesthetic agents such as improved haemodynamic stability, faster recovery and neuroprotective properties. In addition, xenon gas does not contribute to greenhouse gas in contrast to commonly used inhalational agents.
Although despite Xenon’s vast benefits, the scarcity and cost of xenon has limited its widespread adoption.
Current advancement in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), an absorbent material which allows for the capture of large quantities of gaseous species, creates hope for the recycling of xenon. MOF contains well defined pores that may be tailored for specific gases. This has been proven by our research team, which has recently demonstrated the ability for these materials to efficiently capture the conventional anaesthetic, sevoflurane, from scavenged gas mixture.
The aim of this current study is to develop MOFs specifically for capturing xenon from scavenged gas mixture.
i) To design, synthesize and characterize MOFs that are tailored to adsorb xenon
ii) Examine the adsorption behaviour of the synthesized MOFs
iii) Investigate methods for pelletising the adsorbent MOFs.
Efficient recapture and release of xenon will reduce the cost of this beneficial anaesthetic agent.
Researchers
Chief Investigators:
Dr Steven McGuigan
Associate Professor Forbes McGain
Professor Brendan Abrahams
Associate Professor Lisbeth Evered
Dr Keith White
Dr Lauren Macreadie
Funding
Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists