The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar M Yaghi for their pioneering work in the development of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), Al Jazeera reported.
The three scientists, who received the award on Wednesday, represent Kyoto University in Japan, the University of Melbourne in Australia, and the University of California, Berkeley, in the United States, respectively.
According to Al Jazeera, the Nobel Committee said the trio created “molecular constructions with large spaces through which gases and other chemicals can flow.” These structures have wide-ranging applications, including harvesting water from desert air, capturing carbon dioxide, storing toxic gases, and breaking down traces of pharmaceuticals in the environment.
“Metal-organic frameworks have enormous potential, bringing previously unforeseen opportunities for custom-made materials with new functions,” said Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.
Olof Ramstrom, a member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, compared the new molecular architecture to the handbag of the fictional Harry Potter character Hermione Granger, describing it as “small on the outside but very large on the inside.”
Kitagawa expressed his gratitude during the Nobel press conference. “My dream is to capture air and separate air – for instance, into CO₂ or oxygen or water or something – and convert this to useful materials using renewable energy,” he said.
Yaghi, who was born to Palestinian refugees in Jordan, reflected on his journey, as cited by Al Jazeera. “It’s quite a journey, and science allows you to do it,” he said in an interview published on the Nobel website, adding that his parents could barely read or write. “Science is the greatest equalising force in the world,” he said.
Yaghi also shared that he was “astonished and delighted” to win the award. He recalled that at age 10, he discovered a book on molecules in a library, sparking his lifelong passion for chemistry. “The deeper you dig, the more beautifully you find things are constructed,” he told the Nobel website.
The three chemists, working independently but contributing to one another’s breakthroughs, developed stable metal organic frameworks that can be likened to the wooden framework of a house. These structures can absorb and store gases, enabling practical applications such as capturing carbon dioxide or extracting water from dry desert air.
The Nobel Prize statement explained that the first breakthrough occurred in 1989 when Robson experimented with atoms by combining positively charged copper ions with a four-armed molecule that formed a diamond-shaped crystal with cavities. However, the crystal was unstable.
Between 1992 and 2003, Kitagawa and Yaghi made key advancements to stabilize the structures, with Kitagawa showing flexibility in the frameworks and Yaghi applying rational design methods to modify them.
David Pendlebury, head of research analysis at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate, noted that Kitagawa and Yaghi’s influence on the field had long been recognized.
“We named Kitagawa and Yaghi Citation Laureates in 2010, based on their exceptional citation records in the Web of Science – a clear signal, even then, of their profound influence on the field,” he said.
“Their highly cited papers reflected a rapidly expanding area of research, already two decades in the making at that time. Notably, both have been named Highly Cited Researchers every year since 2014, demonstrating that their contributions have not only stood the test of time but have continued to shape and lead the field as it has grown,” Pendlebury said, according to Al Jazeera.
The 2025 Nobel announcements began with the medicine prize on Monday, awarded to Mary E Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Dr Shimon Sakaguchi for their discoveries related to peripheral immune tolerance.
On Tuesday, the physics prize went to John Clarke, Michel H Devoret, and John M Martinis for their research on quantum tunnelling, advancing the power of digital communications and computing.
The Nobel announcements continue this week, with the literature prize to be declared on Thursday, followed by the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, and the economics prize next Monday.
The award ceremony will take place on December 10, marking the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite and founder of the Nobel Prizes, who died in 1896. (ANI)
