Award-winning ideas - Nobel Prize explained simply: Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)

The 2025 Nobel Prize in chemistry has been awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar M. Yaghi. They were honored for their development of metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs for short. These materials consist of regular, highly porous structures with a very large surface area. This allows them to selectively absorb, bind, or separate certain substances.

In practice, MOFs are used, for example, to remove pollutants from water or air, to capture gases such as CO₂, or to facilitate chemical reactions. They thus open up new possibilities in fields relevant to environmental protection, energy technology, and process engineering. Some MOF materials are now even commercially available and are undergoing continuous further development.

Prof. Dr. Jens Weber will provide an accessible overview of how MOFs are structured, why their structure is so versatile, and how this concept has become one of the most important current developments in chemistry. The lecture is specifically aimed at anyone interested in the topic, even those without a background in chemistry.

Date: December 17, 2025, 6:00 p.m.
Location: Large Lecture Hall, Room 0.01 (Building Z IV)
Theodor-Körner-Allee 8, 02763 Zittau

After the lecture, there will be an opportunity to ask questions and engage in conversation with other participants. Refreshments will be provided.

An event organized by the Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences and Saxony⁵.