Cucurbit[7]uril: an amorphous molecular material for highly selective carbon dioxide uptake

Cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]), in its amorphous solid state, shows one of the highest CO2 sorption capacities among known organic porous materials at 298 K and 0.1 and 1 bar. In addition to the highest CO2 capacity, CB[7] also shows remarkable selectivity of CO2 over N-2 and CH4. These properties, along with the existence of readily available precursors, indicate amorphous CB[7] might find applications in recycling CO2 particularly considering the easy synthesis and potentially low manufacturing costs.