Trio wins chemistry Nobel for new form of molecular architecture

STOCKHOLM, Oct 08 (Reuters) -Scientists Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi won the 2025 Nobel chemistry prize for developing a new form of molecular architecture, yielding materials that can help tackle challenges such as climate change and lack of fresh water.

The three laureates worked to create molecular constructions with large spaces through which gases and other chemicals can flow and that can be utilised to harvest water from desert air, capture carbon dioxide or store toxic gases.

The academy said some of these materials had a remarkably large surface area - a porous material roughly the same amount as a small sugar cube could contain as much surface area as a large football pitch.

"A small amount of such material can be almost like Hermione's handbag in Harry Potter. It can store huge amounts of gas in a tiny volume," Olof Ramstrom, Member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry said.

The more than a century-old prize is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the winners share 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.2 million), as well as the

fame of winning arguably the world's most prestigious science award.

Kitagawa told the Nobel press conference that he was deeply honoured by the award.

"My dream is to capture air and separate air to - for instance, in CO2 or oxygen or water or something - and convert this to useful materials using renewable energy," he said

Kitagawa is a professor at Kyoto University in Japan, while Robson is a professor at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and Yaghi is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, in the United States.

"Through the development of metal-organic frameworks, the laureates have provided chemists with new opportunities for solving some of the challenges we face," the award-giving body said in a statement.