Científicos crean un material que permite respirar bajo el agua
Lunes 06 de Octubre de 2014 - 11:57
Científicos daneses han desarrollado un material de cristal sintético que podría permitir algún día al ser humano respirar bajo el agua sin necesitad de tanques de buceo, lo que permitirá emular al personaje de cómic Aquaman.
El material cristalino, desarrollado por un equipo de la Universidad del Sur de Dinamarca, está tan "hambriento de oxígeno" que una cucharada de este puede absorber todo el oxígeno presente en una habitación de tamaño promedio, informa 'Tech Times'.
Según los investigadores daneses, el innovador material también puede atraer el oxígeno del agua como una esponja y luego este puede ser liberado mediante la exposición del material a una pequeña cantidad de calor, la baja presión o el vacío.
"Unos pocos granos contienen suficiente oxígeno para una respiración, y ya que el material puede absorber el oxígeno del agua alrededor del buzo y proporcionárselo a él mismo, quien no tendrá que traer más que estos pocos granos", explica la investigadora Christine McKenzie.
El material está basado en el cobalto, que le da "precisamente la estructura molecular y electrónica que le permite absorber el oxígeno de su entorno", afirma McKenzie. "Pequeñas cantidades de metales son esenciales para la absorción de oxígeno, por lo que en realidad no es del todo sorprendente ver este efecto en nuestro nuevo material".
http://www.ecuavisa.com/articulo/noticias/internacionales/83168-cientificos-crean-material-que-permite-respirar-bajo-agua
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TAG scuba diving, chemistry
Want to be Aquaman? These crystals may allow us to breathe underwater
By Jim Algar, Tech Times | October 4, 9:19 PMSHARE(56 )
Scuba gearCrystal substance that can hold incredible amounts of oxygen could someday allow people to venture underwater without scuba gear, researchers suggest. A spoonful of the material can absorb all the oxygen in an average size room, they say.
(Photo : Soljaguar, Wikipedia, Creative Commons)
A synthetic material developed by Danish scientists could someday allow a human to breathe underwater like the comic book character Aquaman, with no need for scuba tanks, the researchers say.
They report creating a synthetic crystal material so oxygen-hungry a spoonful can absorb all of the oxygen present in an average-size room.
It can also attract oxygen from water like a sponge, and the oxygen can then be released by exposing the material to a small amount of heat or to low pressure or a vacuum, the researchers at the University of Southern Denmark said.
The novel material is based on the element cobalt, and binds it within an organic molecule.
"Cobalt gives the new material precisely the molecular and electronic structure that enables it to absorb oxygen from its surroundings," university researcher Christine McKenzie said. "Small amounts of metals are essential for the absorption of oxygen, so actually it is not entirely surprising to see this effect in our new material."
The substance is able to absorb and hold oxygen to a concentration some 160 times greater than in air that surrounds us, which is 21 percent oxygen, the researchers report in the journal Chemical Science.
Although the possibility of legions of scuba-free Aquamen swimming the world's oceans may be some way off, the material suggests some more immediate possibilities, McKenzie says.
"This could be valuable for lung patients who today must carry heavy oxygen tanks with them," she says.
"When the substance is saturated with oxygen, it can be compared to an oxygen tank containing pure oxygen under pressure -- the difference is that this material can hold three times as much oxygen."
Different versions of the substance can absorb and release oxygen at different speeds, the researchers say, suggesting it could be used in devices intended to release and/or absorb oxygen for different purposes.
For example, they say, a facemask with different layers of versions of the material in a certain sequence could conceivable supply a person with oxygen directly from the air without resorting to high-pressure equipment or pumps.
Which takes the technology into Aquaman territory, a use McKenzie sees as entirely possible.
"Divers may one day be able to leave the oxygen tanks at home and instead get oxygen from this material as it 'filters' and concentrates oxygen from surrounding air or water," she says. "A few grains contain enough oxygen for one breath, and as the material can absorb oxygen from the water around the diver and supply the diver with it, the diver will not need to bring more than these few grains."
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/17214/20141004/want-to-be-aquaman-these-crystals-may-allow-us-to-breathe-underwater.htm
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