Nobel Prize Honors Scientists Behind 'Water‑from‑Air' MOFs That Could Help Billions

Nobel Prize honors creators of material that can pull water from dry air

When Omar Yaghi answered a call at Frankfurt Airport and learned he had won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, he described the feeling as "indescribable." The prize recognizes Yaghi (University of California, Berkeley), Susumu Kitagawa (Kyoto University) and Richard Robson (University of Melbourne) for their work on metal‑organic frameworks (MOFs), a class of materials that can capture water vapor from even arid air.

Metal‑organic frameworks are porous, crystalline structures made from metal ions or clusters connected by organic linkers. Engineered at the molecular level, MOFs act like incredibly efficient sponges: they can trap gases, filter pollutants, store molecules and — most notably in this award — harvest moisture from the atmosphere. The Nobel committee described them as "molecular sponges" capable of holding vast amounts of material in tiny volumes.

The practical possibilities are wide-ranging. According to UNICEF, more than 4 billion people experience severe water scarcity for at least one month each year. MOF‑based water harvesters can draw moisture directly from the air and, in prototypes, release it as potable water when warmed (for example, by sunlight). That makes the approach a promising decentralized source of drinking water for remote or infrastructure‑poor regions where wells and pipelines are impractical.

Beyond immediate humanitarian uses, MOF technologies could reduce pressure on groundwater and ease reliance on energy‑intensive desalination plants, which can damage coastal ecosystems. When paired with low‑cost, solar‑driven systems, MOF harvesters may offer a lower‑energy alternative for producing clean water in some settings. While large‑scale deployment will require cost reductions, durability testing and careful lifecycle assessments, the materials open new paths for resilient water supplies.

"Science is a great equalizing force in the world," Yaghi told the Nobel Committee, reflecting a personal motivation: he grew up in a household near Amman, Jordan, where access to running water was sometimes intermittent. Those early experiences helped shape his drive to make safe water more accessible.

The award also highlights the broader utility of MOFs in areas such as gas separation, carbon capture and catalysis — applications that could affect energy systems, pollution control and industrial chemistry. As research continues, the challenge will be translating laboratory advances into affordable, robust devices that communities can adopt at scale.

In honoring these researchers, the Nobel committee underscored how fundamental advances in materials chemistry can translate into technologies with profound societal impact — from scientific insight to potential solutions for global water scarcity.