The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded jointly to Richard Robson, Susumu Kitagawa, and Omar M. Yaghi for developing metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), a new class of materials that combine metals and organic molecules to create porous structures with immense storage and filtration potential. Their pioneering work has given chemistry a novel form of molecular architecture, enabling breakthrough in fields as diverse as water harvesting, storage of gas pollutants, and climate mitigation.
The Nobel Committee recognised their achievement as a turning point in chemistry. It has transformed how scientists think about the design and use of crystalline materials at the molecular level.
The price amount of 11 million Swedish kronor, about ₹1 crore would be shared between the laureates, besides the prestige that the Nobel prize carries.
The Genesis of a New Molecular Architecture
The origin of MOFs traces back to the mid-1970s, when Richard Robson, professor at the University of Melbourne, Australia, was engaged in a classroom exercise to model atomic structures using wooden balls and rods. This seemingly simple exercise led him to a profound question: what would happen if he utilised the atoms’ inherent properties to link together different types of molecules, rather than individual atoms? Could he design new types of molecular construction?
Over the next decade, Robson worked to turn this conceptual insight into reality. By the 1980s, he had demonstrated that metal ions, when connected by organic molecules, could self-organise into repeating crystalline structures were spacious, hinting at their potential to trap and host other molecules. Robson’s early creations, however, were fragile and tended to collapse easily.
Building on this foundation, Susumu Kitagawa of Kyoto University, Japan, sought to improve the stability of such frameworks. Guided by the principle of finding ‘the usefulness of useless’, he explored ways to create porous materials that could retain their form while allowing gases to diffuse through them. By 1992, he had successfully developed one of the first robust porous molecular structures and later demonstrated that these cavities could reversibly absorb gases such as methane, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Parallel to these efforts, Omar M. Yaghi, a Jordan-born chemist working in the US, brought a new level of precision to molecular design. Having grown up in modest circumstances in Jordan, Yaghi was fascinated by Chemistry’s ability to create new forms of order. He aimed to make chemical reactions predictable and clean, much like assembling Lego blocks. In 1995, his research team constructed two-dimensional networks held together by metal ions, such as copper and cobalt, capable of hosting guest molecules without losing stability even at temperatures up to 350 °C. In 1995, in an article in Nature paper, Yaghi coined the term ‘metal-organic framework’, formalising a new field of chemistry.
Understanding MOFs
MOFs are a class of materials composed of metal ions or clusters that act as connectors, linked by organic molecules which serve as bridging units. Together, they form an extended, three-dimensional network resembling scaffolding with cavities.
The unique feature of MOFs lies in their extraordinary porosity which allows gases and liquids to flow through. A single gram of MOF could contain an internal surface area comparable to that of an entire football field. This vast surface area, combined with tunable (a material or system whose properties could be precisely adjusted, modified or controlled often in response to external stimuli or by design) chemical properties, makes MOFs highly adaptable. By altering either, the metal nodes or the organic linkers, scientists could tailor MOFs to capture, store or separate specific molecules.
This tunability gives MOFs a versatility that surpasses earlier porous materials, such as zeolites. Zeolites are the already existing stable materials which are built from silicon dioxide and can absorb gases. Metals could bond in multiple directions, providing strong anchoring points, while organic molecules link them together. They could be engineered to form rings, chains or flexible groups, allowing chemists to design frameworks with precision at the atomic level.
From Concept to a Global Scientific Revolution
The discovery of MOFs transformed what was once an academic curiosity into a vast research domain. Since the 1990s, more than 1,00,000 distinct MOFs have been synthesised worldwide, each tailored for specific functions and facilitating new chemical wonders. What began as Robson’s pedagogical curiosity and Kitagawa’s search for porosity became the foundation of an entire sub-discipline of materials chemistry.
Yaghi’s later creation of MOF-5 in the late 1990s marked a major milestone. This material could withstand heat and pressure while maintaining an open internal surface area, enabling it to host other molecules securely. Different variants of MOF-5 were produced with cavities that were both larger and smaller than those in the original material. Few of these variants could store huge volumes of methane gas, which could be used in RNG-fuelled vehicles. MOF-5 became a sample model for thousands of subsequent frameworks, setting the stage for industrial and environmental applications.
The Broader Significance
The Nobel Committee described the laureates’ work as akin to creating ‘like rooms in a hotel’, where molecules could enter and exit like guests and as comparable to a handbag that is small outside but vast within. These analogies underscore the conceptual simplicity and practical brilliance of MOFs, tiny frameworks that store enormous possibilities.
Beyond scientific novelty, the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry symbolises the power of fundamental research to address global needs. What began as an abstract exploration of molecular geometry has matured into a cornerstone technology for sustainability, offering solutions for clean water, renewable energy, and pollution control.
Applications with Real-World Impact
The transformative nature of MOFs lies in their applicability to mankind’s greatest challenges. Their vast internal space and customisable chemical surfaces make them ideal for capturing, storing or filtering substances at the molecular scale.
Water harvesting is among the most striking examples. In the arid deserts of Arizona, researchers demonstrated that MOFs could capture moisture from the air at night and release it as liquid water when heated by morning sunlight. Such technology offers a potential pathway to alleviate water scarcity in dry regions.
Carbon capture and climate mitigation form another crucial domain. MOFs could selectively absorb carbon dioxide from industrial emissions or even directly from the surrounding air. Their tunable nature allows them to trap carbon while remaining stable and reusable, a critical factor for scaling sustainable carbon-capture technologies.
Pollution control has also benefitted from MOF technology. These frameworks are being developed to remove persistent pollutants, such as PFAS (Pre-and polyfluoroalkyl substances—a family of chemicals that are believed to be toxic) from water sources breaking down traces of pharmaceuticals in the environment, capturing carbon dioxide or harvesting water from desert air.
In the field of energy, MOFs have shown promise for hydrogen storage, an essential requirement for clean energy systems. Their high porosity allows them to safely store large quantities of hydrogen at relatively moderate pressures, supporting the global transition towards hydrogen-based fuels.
MOFs also play roles in gas separation, catalysing chemical reactions, and food preservation, such as the trapping of ethylene gas to show fruit ripening and reduce food spoilage. Each of these applications highlights how a seemingly abstract scientific idea has evolved into tangible solutions for sustainability.
About the Laureates
Richard Robson, born in 1937 in Glusburn, UK, is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Melbourne, Australia. His curiosity-driven approach to molecular design laid the conceptual groundwork for MOFs, transforming a teaching model into a revolutionary scientific idea.
Susumu Kitagawa, born in 1951 in Kyoto, Japan, is a Professor at Kyoto University. His early perseverance in developing porous molecular structure, helped him build the first true three-dimensional MOF in 1997 by linking cobalt, nickel or zinc ions with a bridging molecule called the 4,4’-bipyridine. The material could be dried and refilled while allowing gases like methane, nitrogen, and oxygen to move freely thorough it without losing its stability. He further discovered that MOFs need not be rigid; their flexible molecular joints could adapt by expanding, contracting or bending in response to changes in temperature, pressure or the type of molecules they contained. His work gave the field both scientific credibility and direction.
Omar M. Yaghi, born in 1965 in Amman, Jordan, and currently Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, extended the idea into a comprehensive design framework. His coinage of the term ‘MOF’ and his systematic method of combining metals with organic linkers helped turn the concept into a reproducible and expandable science. In 1995, he created stable two-dimensional frameworks using cobalt or copper ions, and by 1999, developed MOF-5, a durable three-dimensional structure made from zinc and organic linkers, with an immense internal surface area and high heat resistance. By the early 2000s, his team had produced multiple MOF families with similar structures but varied pore sizes and uses. His research group continues to pioneer new MOF architectures for clean energy and environmental remediation.
Their collective contributions bridge continents and generations, illustrating how curiosity, persistence, and collaboration could yield discoveries with transformative potential.
Conclusion
The 2025 Chemistry Nobel crowns over five decades of exploration into how atoms and molecules could be assembled into ordered and functional architectures. Through their complementary efforts, Robson, Kitagawa, and Yaghi have opened a new chapter in chemistry; one where materials could be purpose-built to serve humanity’s most pressing environmental and energy challenges.
Their work not only redefines molecular design but also exemplifies how science, guided by imagination and persistence, could transform the impossible into the indispensable. To harness the benefits of MOFs for humanity, many companies are now investing in their mass production and commercialisation. Some have also succeeded. The discovery of ‘metal-organic frameworks’ stands as a testament to the enduring relevance of curiosity-driven research in shaping sustainable future.
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