Trees have long done the heavy lifting of sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but no matter how big the planting spree, nature won’t catch up to human impact on our warming planet. But UC Berkeley scientists recently made a discovery that could help potentially mitigate the effects of climate change, and it’s just the beginning of more work with the groundbreaking material.

The specially designed, porous yellow powder dubbed COF-999 the group created can capture carbon dioxide from the air, keeping it from being released until it can be moved underground or to a capture facility. Published this week in the journal Nature, the research details the unique substance and its potential uses to address climate change. 

“We were so excited when we obtained such exceptional results from the experiments,” Omar Yaghi, a chemistry professor at UC Berkeley and the study’s lead author, told SFGATE via email. “This is a game-changer and COF-999 is essentially the best materials […]