发表于 2025年10月9日
The 2025 Nobel prize in chemistry has gone to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi for the development of materials full of cavities that can store and release gases such as carbon dioxide, known as metal-organic frameworks.
“A small amount of such material can be almost like Hermione’s handbag in Harry Potter,” said Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry. “It can store huge amounts of gas in a tiny volume.”
Tens of thousands of different metal-organic frameworks have now been created. They have many potential applications, from helping to capture CO2 in chimneys to cleaning up forever chemicals and harvesting water from the air.
In the late 1980s, Richard Robson at the University of Melbourne in Australia was inspired by the ordered structure of diamonds to create the first metal-organic frameworks. Robson realised that it might be possible to use metal ions as nodes, and link them together with carbon-based, or organic, molecules.
When the metal ions and organic molecules are mixed together, they self-assemble into ordered frameworks. While the cavities in the diamond framework are small, the cavities in metal-organic frameworks can be much bigger.
The cavities in the metal-organic frameworks created by Robson were filled with water. It was Susumu Kitagawa at Kyoto University in Japan who first created a framework that was stable enough to be dried out and who managed to fill the empty cavities with gas.
“He showed that the gases could be taken up, absorbed by the material, and could also be released from the material,” said Olof Ramström, a co-opted member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.
Kitagawa also went on to create metal-organic frameworks that change shape when gases are added or removed.
Omar Yaghi at the University of California, Berkeley, managed to create frameworks that were even more stable by using metal ion clusters containing zinc and oxygen, and linkers containing carboxylate groups.
“This is an astonishing framework because it was highly stable. It was stable all the way up to 300 degrees Celsius,” said Ramström. “But even more remarkable was that it contains an enormous surface area. So just a few grams of this porous material, roughly the same as a small sugar cube, contains as much surface area as a large football pitch that is several thousands of square meters.”
Yaghi also went on to show that the cavities in these materials can be made larger, simply by making the linkers longer.
After these fundamental breakthroughs, the field evolved very rapidly, Ramström said. “We see new metal-organic frameworks developed almost every day.”
The 2025 Nobel prize in chemistry has gone to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi for the development of materials full of cavities that can store and release gases such as carbon dioxide, known as metal-organic frameworks.
2025年诺贝尔化学奖授予了须藤喜多川（Susumu Kitagawa）、理查德·罗布森（Richard Robson）和奥马尔·亚吉（Omar Yaghi），以表彰他们开发出了一种内部充满孔洞的材料——金属有机框架（metal-organic frameworks，简称MOFs），这种材料能够储存和释放二氧化碳等气体。
“A small amount of such material can be almost like Hermione’s handbag in Harry Potter,” said Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry. “It can store huge amounts of gas in a tiny volume.”
诺贝尔化学委员会主席海纳·林克（Heiner Linke）说：“少量这种材料，几乎就像《哈利·波特》中赫敏的魔法包一样。它可以在很小的体积内储存大量的气体。”
Tens of thousands of different metal-organic frameworks have now been created. They have many potential applications, from helping to capture CO2 in chimneys to cleaning up forever chemicals and harvesting water from the air.
如今，数万种不同的金属有机骨架材料已被创造出来。它们拥有众多潜在的应用前景，例如：帮助在烟囱中捕获二氧化碳（CO2），清除“永久化学品”（一类难以降解的污染物），以及从空气中收集水。
In the late 1980s, Richard Robson at the University of Melbourne in Australia was inspired by the ordered structure of diamonds to create the first metal-organic frameworks. Robson realised that it might be possible to use metal ions as nodes, and link them together with carbon-based, or organic, molecules.
20世纪80年代末，澳大利亚墨尔本大学的理查德·罗布森（Richard Robson）受钻石有序结构的启发，首次创造出金属有机框架（MOFs）。罗布森意识到，有可能将金属离子用作节点，并用碳基分子（即有机分子）将它们连接起来。
When the metal ions and organic molecules are mixed together, they self-assemble into ordered frameworks. While the cavities in the diamond framework are small, the cavities in metal-organic frameworks can be much bigger.
当金属离子和有机分子混合在一起时，它们会自组装形成有序的骨架结构。尽管钻石结构中的空腔很小，但金属有机骨架中的空腔可以大得多。
The cavities in the metal-organic frameworks created by Robson were filled with water. It was Susumu Kitagawa at Kyoto University in Japan who first created a framework that was stable enough to be dried out and who managed to fill the empty cavities with gas.
罗布森（Robson）制造的金属有机框架中的空腔最初都充满了水。而日本京都大学的北川进（Susumu Kitagawa）是第一个制造出足够稳定、可以被干燥，并成功用气体填充空腔的框架的人。
“He showed that the gases could be taken up, absorbed by the material, and could also be released from the material,” said Olof Ramström, a co-opted member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.
诺贝尔化学奖委员会增选委员奥洛夫·拉姆斯特伦（Olof Ramström）说道：“他证明了这些材料能够吸收气体，也能够释放气体。”
Kitagawa also went on to create metal-organic frameworks that change shape when gases are added or removed.
北川还进一步创造出一种金属有机骨架材料，当气体被加入或移除时，其形状会发生改变。
Omar Yaghi at the University of California, Berkeley, managed to create frameworks that were even more stable by using metal ion clusters containing zinc and oxygen, and linkers containing carboxylate groups.
加州大学伯克利分校的奥马尔·亚吉（Omar Yaghi）通过使用含有锌和氧的金属离子簇（metal ion clusters）以及含有羧酸盐基团（carboxylate groups）的连接剂（linkers），成功创造出了更加稳定的骨架。
“This is an astonishing framework because it was highly stable. It was stable all the way up to 300 degrees Celsius,” said Ramström. “But even more remarkable was that it contains an enormous surface area. So just a few grams of this porous material, roughly the same as a small sugar cube, contains as much surface area as a large football pitch that is several thousands of square meters.”
拉姆斯特伦说：“这是一种令人惊叹的骨架结构，因为它非常稳定，甚至能耐受高达300摄氏度的高温。” “但更令人称奇的是，它拥有巨大的表面积。因此，这种多孔材料只需几克——大约相当于一小块方糖的体积——就能拥有一个大型足球场那么大的表面积，面积可达几千平方米。”
Yaghi also went on to show that the cavities in these materials can be made larger, simply by making the linkers longer.
亚吉还进一步证明，仅仅通过将连接体做得更长，就能让这些材料中的孔洞变得更大。
After these fundamental breakthroughs, the field evolved very rapidly, Ramström said. “We see new metal-organic frameworks developed almost every day.”
Ramström表示：“在这些基础性突破之后，该领域发展得非常迅速。我们几乎每天都能看到新的金属有机框架被开发出来。”