Refrigerant reclamation among applications for Nobel Prize-winning tech

Australia-based chemist Professor Richard Robson has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry alongside Professor Susumu Kitagawa (Japan) and Professor Omar M. Yaghi (United States) for their pioneering development of metal–organic frameworks, which could help address tough environmental challenges such as refrigerant reclamation.

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are described as porous materials made from metal ions linked by organic molecules, forming crystals filled with nano-sized cavities.

These frameworks have the extraordinary ability to “absorb and separate only specific gas molecules” by changing the size, shape, and chemical properties of their pores.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that the three scientists will share the SEK 11 million ($A1.5 million) prize “for the development of metal–organic frameworks”.

Their work, which began in the 1970s and 1980s, has opened up new frontiers in what the Nobel Committee called “molecular architecture”.

The Academy explained that the molecular architecture of MOFs “contains rooms for chemistry”, allowing gases and other chemicals to flow through – a feature that could enable applications such as harvesting water from desert air, capturing carbon dioxide, storing toxic gases, or even breaking down pollutants such as PFAS, often referred to as “forever chemicals”.

Nobel Committee for Chemistry chair Professor Heiner Linke said: “Metal–organic frameworks have enormous potential, bringing previously unforeseen opportunities for custom-made materials with new functions.”

Professor Robson, who was born in Glusburn in the United Kingdom but has been based at the University of Melbourne since 1966, initiated the foundational research in 1989.

He combined positively charged copper ions with a four-armed molecule to create a stable crystalline structure full of internal cavities. Though the early versions were fragile, the work laid the foundation for subsequent breakthroughs by Professor Kitagawa and Professor Yaghi.

Between 1992 and 2003, Professor Kitagawa demonstrated that gases could flow in and out of the structures and predicted that MOFs could be flexible, while Professor Yaghi designed a highly stable MOF that could be fine-tuned to deliver new and desirable properties.

Since then, chemists worldwide have created tens of thousands of variations, with potential uses ranging from environmental cleanup to energy storage.

The Nobel Committee likened the materials’ internal structure to Hermione Granger’s enchanted handbag from the Harry Potter series – small on the outside but with a remarkably large internal space, giving MOFs an extraordinary capacity to absorb and contain gases, explained Committee member Olof Ramström.

Expanding on the material’s potential, the Committee also highlighted that “these constructions can be used to harvest water from desert air, capture carbon dioxide, store toxic gases or catalyse chemical reactions”.

Professor Kitagawa is leading Atomis, a Kyoto University start-up that is developing MOF-based technologies for gas separation and recovery.

Since 2020, Atomis has been working with Japanese air-conditioning and refrigerant manufacturer Daikin Industries to apply its advanced gas control technology to the separation and regeneration of refrigerants recovered from air-conditioners, aiming to make the recycling of refrigerants faster, more precise, and less energy-intensive.

By using MOFs, Daikin could greatly reduce manufacturing emissions and limit the release of potent greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Daikin has already begun using MOF technology in its chemical plants “to improve the accuracy and speed of removing impurities from refrigerants”.

“We will continue to lead the industry and contribute to the realisation of carbon neutrality by 2050 by building advanced refrigerant eco-cycles,” the company said.

Royal Society of Chemistry resident Dr Annette Doherty said the award was “another indicator of the value of chemistry in addressing some of the planet’s hardest problems”.

“Every year we see Nobel Prizes given to chemists who welcome the challenge of finding solutions to the biggest problems our global society faces – better healthcare, environmental protection, clean energy, and secure food and water for everyone.”