Overview
- The Royal Swedish Academy cited the creation of metal–organic structures with large internal cavities that allow molecules to flow, enabling water harvesting from desert air, pollutant removal, carbon dioxide capture and gas storage.
- Robson’s 1989 molecular construction was advanced by Kitagawa and Yaghi through breakthroughs from 1992 to 2003 that stabilized the frameworks and made them designable.
- Metal–organic frameworks are crystalline materials built from metal nodes and organic linkers that can be tuned for specific functions such as catalysis and electrical conductivity.
- Heiner Linke, president of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said these materials have enormous potential to deliver tailored functions.
- The winners, based at Kyoto University, the University of Melbourne and UC Berkeley, will share 11 million Swedish kronor along with the Nobel medal and diploma.