Another day, another Nobel Prize for a UC Berkeley scientist

"Omar Yaghi with molecular models of some of his porous structures, called metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs. COFs have similar internal structures, but are held together by strong covalent bonds instead of by metal atoms. Credit: Brittany Hosea-Small for UC Berkeley Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for their development of metalorganic frameworks that could eventually help reduce pollution and combat climate change."

"Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for their development of metalorganic frameworks that could eventually help reduce pollution and combat climate change. A member of the Nobel committee likened the discovery to Hermione Granger's seemingly bottomless enchanted handbag in the Harry Potter series, in that the frameworks may look small from the outside, but are able to hold surprisingly vast quantities within them."

Omar M. Yaghi, Susumu Kitagawa, and Richard Robson received the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). MOFs are porous molecular structures that can absorb and store gases and water inside stable cavities. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) share similar internal structures but are held together by covalent bonds rather than metal atoms. Applications include capturing atmospheric carbon dioxide and harvesting water from desert air. The discovery lineage began with Robson in 1989 and progressed through separate but complementary breakthroughs. The Nobel committee compared the frameworks' storage capacity to a seemingly bottomless enchanted handbag and noted their potential to address major environmental challenges.

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