Kiran Shehu, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Shen Wei, professor of biology at Harvard University, said scientists still had a lot to learn about how to create materials that are better at holding and holding onto certain substances.

He cited nanocomposites and carbon nanotubes, “and very basic materials like graphene and graphene oxide, which have much better surface tension.”

And even if there is no “holy grail” in chemistry just yet, scientists could find solutions in a related field, called quantum chemistry.

“You could make something with more robust properties,” Shehu said.

But there are some other challenges, according to researchers.

“You need more precision with the chemistry and more high-temperature, high-pressure,” Shehu said.

And, of course, most of all, there still needs to be a complete understanding of the material.

“You need to study what the properties of the material actually are,” Seneviratne said. “You have to know precisely what each of the molecules do and where they’re in relation to each other.”

If scientists can come up with a material which can do all of those things, she said, they could bring this technology to market faster and cheaper than ever.