Susumu Kitagawa scientists, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for developing a new form of molecular architecture.
Kitagawa is a professor at the University of Kyoto 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 organic metal frameworks, the laureates have provided new opportunities to solve some of the challenges we face,” said Royal Sweden Academy of Sciences.
The trio created molecular constructions that can be used to harvest water from the desert air and capture carbon dioxide, said the academy.
“They have found ways to create materials, completely novel materials, with large cavities inside, which can be seen almost as rooms in a hotel, so that guest molecules can enter and also leave the same material,” said Heiner Linke, president of the Nobel Committee of Chemistry.
“A small amount of this material can be almost like Hermione’s bag in Harry Potter. It can store large amounts of gas in a small volume,” he added.
