Scientists have created 'dry water' that soaks carbon three times better than water, and hence help combat global warming.

Each particle of dry water, a substance that looks like powdered sugar, contains a water droplet surrounded by a sandy silica coating.

Ben Carter from the University of Liverpool who presented his research at the American Chemical Society in Boston, US, said: "There's nothing else quite like it."

"Hopefully, we may see dry water making waves in the future," he was quoted by the Telegraph as saying.

Dry water may also prove useful for storing methane and expanding the energy source potential of the natural gas.

Carter's team also used it as a catalyst to speed up reactions between hydrogen and maleic acid. This produces succinic acid, a key raw material widely used to make drugs, food ingredients and consumer products.

Usually hydrogen and maleic acid have to be stirred together to make succinic acid. But this is not necessary when using dry water particles containing maleic acid, making the process greener and more energy efficient.

"If you can remove the need to stir your reactions, potentially you're making considerable energy savings," Carter said.

The technology could be adapted to create "dry" powder emulsions, mixtures of two or more unblendable liquids such as oil and water, the researchers believe.

Dry emulsions could make it safer and easier to store and transport potentially harmful liquids.