Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M Yaghi have won the Nobel Chemistry Prize for creating new substances with the potential to combat environmental scourges from human-generated carbon dioxide to so-called forever chemicals.
The trio had devised “entirely new materials with unheard of properties”, said Heiner Linke, chair of the chemistry award committee, as it unveiled the victors in Stockholm on Wednesday.
Molecular constructions known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) built by the winners contain large cavities that can be used to capture and store other chemicals, drive reactions and conduct electricity. Other uses include harvesting water from air in the desert, the committee said.