Three scientists were awarded a Nobel Prize in chemistry this week for their recent development of metal-organic frameworks capable of trapping vast quantities of gas within them. The work lays the groundwork for revolutionary new tech that can be used for greenhouse gas capture or moisture harvesting.
The three scientists, Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi, received the award for "groundbreaking discoveries" which "may contribute to solving some of humankind's greatest challenges," according to the committee.
The work which secured the award for the trio began with Robson's work in the 80’s, with each adding to each other’s breakthroughs through the decades. Ultimately, the trio devised stable structures which preserved pores of a specific size capable of allowing gas and liquid of flowing in or out of the framework. The holes are customizable to match the size of the target molecule such as carbon dioxide or methane.
"That level of control is quite rare in chemistry," said Kim Jelfs, a computational chemist at Imperial College London. "It's really efficient for storing gases."
"If you can store toxic gases," said American Chemical Society President Dorothy Phillips, "it can help address global challenges."
Following the lead of the the laureates, researchers have built tens of thousands of different metal organic frameworks, some of which may contribute to solving some of the worlds largest challenges such as PFAS or pharmaceutical pollution remediation.