The mesoporous magnesium carbonate Upsalite®

Upsalite

Upsalite® is a novel mesoporous magnesium carbonate that was first synthesized in our group in 2012. It has been shown to have the highest surface area of all known alkali earth metal carbonates and a narrow pore size distribution centered around ~6 nm. We are currently engaged in a number of projects were the properties of Upsalite® are evaluated for a number of industrial applications.

The synthesis and characterization of the amorphous magnesium carbonate Upsalite® is described in a Plos One article from 2013 and in a Microporous & Mesoporous Materials article from 2014.

In these articles it has been shown that Upsalite® can be synthesized in a template-free, low-temperature process. We explain the pore forming mechanism in the material and show that the pores are formed by release of CO2 gas in the synthesis process.We have further shown that Upsalite® can be used as an excipient material in Pharmaceutical applications to increase the solubility of poorly soluble drugs; Int. J. Pharm 2014.

We are currently involved in a number of projects in which applications of Upsalite® are evaluated and for which the properties of Upsalite® are modified by functionalization and composite formation. We collaborate with the company Disruptive Materials.