The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025 recognises the development of materials with completely new features. Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi have created porous metal-organic frameworks (abbreviated as MOFs). These have large cavities that other molecules can move in and out of. MOFs can be used to, for example, capture carbon dioxide and harvest water from the desert air.
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Slideshow or text for students (10 minutes)
Choose whether you want to show the slideshow and talk about the prize with the support of the speaker’s manuscript, or let the students read the text on their own.
Video with Nobel expert (2 minutes)
Show the video with an expert explaining the benefits of the prize-awarded work.
Student asssignments
Finish by having the students carry out one of the following assignments:
Summarise the prize in your own words, in pairs or smaller groups.
Write down your own reason (citation) for being awarded the prize: The Nobel Prize in … 2025 is awarded [names of the laureates] for their [reason for being awarded the prize]. The citation should be one sentence long.
Explain what the following terms mean: MOF, organic molecule, metal, metal ion, crystal, greenhouse gas.
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Links for further information
Press release for the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry including illustrations
Popular information about the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Interview with Olof Ramström, member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, 6 minutes (YouTube)