SQUEEZE something hard enough and you’d expect it to squash smaller. But
chemists have now discovered a sponge-like substance that expands under
pressure.
Minerals called zeolites are built up from a lattice of widely spaced atoms.
Immersing a zeolite in water and squeezing it forces water molecules into tiny
pores in the lattice. The water pushes the atoms in the zeolite apart, making it
expand (Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol 123, p
12,732).
The effect could be used to soak up dangerous pollutants such as radioactive
strontium, say Tom Vogt and his colleagues from Brookhaven National…
