A handy crystal may replace the bulky oxygen tanks to enable scubadivers to breath underwater.
Metro said Danish scientists have developed a so-called "Aquaman crystal" which can store huge amounts of oxygen--allowing a person to breath underwater.
The Aquaman crystal will be the perfect and certainly handy replacement to oxygen tanks and other bulky breathing apparatus, the added Metro.
The breakthrough chemical creation can actually absorb a substantial amount of oxygen, three times more than the standard oxygen tanks and breathing apparatus are capable of holding, according to scientists.
In addition to underwater breathing use, the Aquaman crystal is also applicable to hospital and medical use, especially among patients suffering from breathing difficulties or disorders.
Professor Christine McKenzie of the University of Southern Denmark has lauded the breakthrough device, citing that it will ease the burden of lung cancer patients all over the world from dragging bulky and heavy oxygen cylinders all day, the Metro report said.
"Divers may one day be able to leave oxygen tanks at home and instead get oxygen from this material as it 'filters' and concentrates oxygen from surrounding air or water," added Prof. McKenzie.
The Aquaman crystal uses the element of cobalt, bound in an organic molecule, reported Mashable.
"Cobalt gives the new material precisely the molecular and electronic structure that enables it to absorb oxygen from its surroundings," McKenzie explained in the Mashable report.
The Aquaman crystal functions like a sponge. It absorbs oxygen and releases it many times over. Once the new device is filled with oxygen, it is practically the same as an oxygen tank containing pure oxygen pressure.
"The only difference is that this material can hold three times as much as oxygen," Prof McKenzie pointed out.
Absorbed oxygen in the crystal can be released either by a relatively small amount of heat or by applying low oxygen pressure, similar to a vacuum.
Scientists are still looking into the possibility of releasing the oxygen in the Aquaman crystal through the use of light.
The only hindrance for the large-scale production for Aquaman crystal is its highly-complicated chemical formula. But scientists are optimistic that it will be a reality soon given its advantage over the bulky and heavy oxygen tanks, said the Metro report.
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