• Nobel laureate Omar Yaghi credits metal‑organic frameworks (MOFs) for potential new material age. • MOFs are crystalline, ultra‑porous, offering surface areas rivaling a football field per gram. • Yaghi pioneered MOF‑5 in 1999, sparking reticular chemistry research worldwide. • MOFs capture water from desert air and absorb atmospheric CO₂, aiding climate solutions. • Future applications include energy storage, gas separation, and drug delivery. • Yaghi envisions a “reticular chemistry age” replacing silicon as dominant technology.
Article Summaries:
- Omar Yaghi, a UC Berkeley chemist, won the 2025 Nobel Prize for pioneering metal‑organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs). These crystalline, highly porous materials, first synthesized in 1999 with MOF‑5, possess internal surface areas comparable to a football field in just a few grams. Yaghi’s reticular‑chemistry approach builds ordered structures atom by atom, enabling precise control over pore size and stability. The materials can capture water from dry air, absorb atmospheric CO₂, and have potential in energy, environmental, and industrial applications. Yaghi believes MOFs herald a new “material age” that could reshape technology and address global challenges.
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