The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Susumu Kitagawa of Kyoto University, Richard Robson of the University of Melbourne, and Omar M. Yaghi of the University of California, Berkeley, for the development of metal-organic frameworks. Their pioneering work has led to the creation of molecular materials with vast internal spaces that can capture, store and transform a range of substances - from water vapour to carbon dioxide and toxic gases. “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.
The laureates’ discoveries have transformed materials chemistry by enabling the construction of crystalline frameworks composed of metal ions linked by organic molecules. These networks, known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), form porous materials with precisely engineered cavities. Chemists can tailor the size, shape and functionality of these pores to suit specific industrial or environmental purposes - such as storing hydrogen, catalysing reactions or filtering pollutants.
The field’s origins date back to 1989, when Richard Robson built the first prototype of a framework by combining copper ions with a four-armed organic molecule. The resulting crystal, although fragile, revealed an unexpectedly ordered structure filled with microscopic voids. Robson recognised the potential for using such architectures to develop materials with novel chemical properties.
Susumu Kitagawa and Omar Yaghi later provided the theoretical and practical foundation that transformed Robson’s early concept into a robust and versatile platform. Between 1992 and 2003, both researchers independently made breakthroughs that established MOFs as a new class of functional materials.
Kitagawa demonstrated that gases could pass in and out of the porous frameworks and predicted their potential flexibility. Yaghi achieved stability and rational control over their structures, producing the now-classic MOF-5, a material whose internal surface area is comparable to that of a football pitch per few grams of substance.
MOFs are now produced in tens of thousands of variations, many with targeted applications. Some are designed to harvest water from desert air, while others separate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from drinking water, or capture carbon dioxide from industrial emissions. Certain MOFs can even absorb ethylene gas to slow fruit ripening, or encapsulate enzymes that break down residual antibiotics in wastewater.
Industrial interest in these materials is accelerating. Several companies are developing scalable methods for MOF production and testing their use in semiconductor manufacturing, gas storage and carbon capture. One of Yaghi’s research groups has even demonstrated a MOF-based device that extracts potable water from arid desert air, powered solely by sunlight.
Born in 1951, Kitagawa earned his PhD from Kyoto University, where he now serves as professor. Robson, born in 1937 in Glusburn, UK, received his doctorate from the University of Oxford before joining the University of Melbourne. Yaghi, born in 1965 in Amman, Jordan, completed his PhD at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and is now professor at UC Berkeley.
By creating what the Nobel Committee described as ‘rooms for chemistry,’ Kitagawa, Robson and Yaghi have laid the foundation for a new molecular architecture that combines scientific elegance with practical promise.
By Rosie Bannister, 9 October 2025