Three scientists win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for creating materials that capture water and pollutants

STOCKHOLM. – The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded this Wednesday the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to the Japanese Susumu Kitagawa, the British Richard Robson and the Jordanian-American Omar Yaghi, for developing metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), an innovative molecular architecture that has revolutionized modern chemistry. These materials allow you to extract water from the air in the desert, capture carbon dioxide, store toxic gases and catalyze chemical reactions with high efficiency.

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"They have found ways to create completely new materials with large internal cavities, like hotel rooms where molecules enter and exit," explained Heiner Linke, chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.

A New Era in Materials Science

Metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs, are formed by metal ions and organic molecules that can be combined in various ways to obtain materials with unique properties.
The British Richard Robson, professor emeritus at the University of Melbourne, was the first to develop such a structure in 1989. However, it was fragile and difficult to keep stable. Years later, between 1992 and 2003, Kitagawa and Yaghi managed to strengthen those structures and give them flexibility and stability. The Japanese scientist showed that gases could enter and exit MOFs, while Yaghi —professor at the University of California, Berkeley— designed materials capable of absorbing polluting gases such as methane and carbon dioxide. "I grew up in a humble home, alongside livestock. This award demonstrates the equalizing force of science," expressed Yaghi, son of Palestinian refugees, after learning of the decision.

Environmental and Technological Impact

Since then, advances in MOFs have allowed the development of thousands of variants with applications in energy, environment, and medicine. These materials can remove pollutants from water, break down drug residues, and create high-precision filters and membranes. “They have changed the paradigm of chemistry,” said Daniel Maspoch, from the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience, who worked with Yaghi in Berkeley. “Thanks to them, today we can create porous materials capable of absorbing molecules for industrial and ecological purposes.” Spanish chemist Felipe Gándara, from the CSIC, added that MOF networks "allow designing structures with specific pores and functions, useful in biotechnology and catalysis."

Science with a future

Experts agree that MOFs mark a new frontier in chemistry, by combining properties of physics, biology, and engineering. According to Eugenio Coronado, from the Molecular Science Institute of Valencia, the next goal is to create quantum MOFs, with applications in magnetic, electrical, and optical technologies. Since 1901, 197 scientists have received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, but only eight have been women. Each award is endowed with 11 million Swedish krona (about one million euros). In recent years, the Nobel Prizes in Chemistry have recognized advances in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. This year's recognition reaffirms the role of chemistry as an essential science for addressing the environmental and energy challenges of the 21st century.