Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025 to Kitagawa, Robson and Yaghi for the molecules that capture water from the desert air

A Nobel that looks to the future of chemistry and, above all, sustainability. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025 to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson And Omar M. Yaghi “for the development of metal-organic structures”, better known as MOFs (Metal-Organic Frameworks). These molecular architectures, invisible to the naked eye but with extraordinary potential, could change the way we address global problems such as water scarcity and the CO₂ emissions.

How MOFs work

MOFs are porous materials in which metal ions act as pillars connected by organic molecules. Their structure forms a sort of crystalline lattice full of cavities, capable of trapping, separating or storing gas and liquid molecules. “Metal-organic frameworks have enormous potential, offering unexpected opportunities for customized materials with new functions,” he said Heiner Linkepresident of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, in the official statement.

The starting point dates back to 1989, when Richard Robson of theUniversity of Melbourne pioneered a new way of combining copper ions with a four-armed molecule. The result was a stable and spacious crystal, “like a diamond filled with countless cavities,” which paved the way for an entirely new chemistry. But the material was unstable: more solid foundations were needed.

In the following years, Susumu Kitagawaof theKyoto UniversityAnd Omar M. Yaghitoday at Berkeleyperfected its construction. Kitagawa demonstrated that gases could flow in and out of these structures, while Yaghi created the first stable, modifiable MOF. Thanks to their insights, materials chemistry entered a new era: today there are tens of thousands of different MOFs, each with tailored functions.

Applications of MOFs

Some MOFs can capture carbon dioxide directly from the air or industrial fumes; others are able to extract water from the humidity of the desertstore toxic gases, or even degrade micropollutants such as PFAS and drug residues present in water. A frontier that intertwines chemistry, technology and environment.

This is not just a laboratory discovery. These porous materials could become crucial allies in the ecological transition: more efficient filters, low-impact chemical processes and carbon capture systems are already being tested. “They created molecular structures with large spaces through which gases and other chemicals can flow,” the Academy explains in its statement. In those spaces, invisible but very powerful, part of the answer to the climate crisis could be hidden.