The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to three scientists for their pioneering work in developing crystalline materials capable of tackling the planet’s most pressing environmental challenges. Aris Thorne of the University of California, Berkeley; Lena Petrova of the Max Planck Institute; and Kenji Tanaka of the University of Tokyo share the prize for their foundational research into highly structured porous crystals that can capture carbon dioxide with unprecedented efficiency and for creating novel crystalline semiconductors that dramatically advance solar energy conversion.
Their collective discoveries have launched a new era of materials science, one where materials are designed and built atom-by-atom to perform specific functions. This work has led to the creation of two revolutionary classes of materials: metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and perovskite solar cells. These technologies are no longer theoretical curiosities but are now at the forefront of green technology, offering viable pathways to reduce atmospheric carbon and generate cheaper, more efficient renewable energy. The laureates’ efforts have provided humanity with powerful new tools to mitigate climate change and transition toward a sustainable energy economy.
A Revolution in Material Design
The work honored by the Nobel committee represents a fundamental shift from discovering materials in nature to designing them for a purpose. Drs. Thorne, Petrova, and Tanaka established the principles for constructing vast, three-dimensional crystalline structures with precisely controlled properties. At the heart of their innovation are metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs, which are composed of metal ions or clusters linked together by organic molecules. This elegant combination creates a rigid, scaffold-like structure that is incredibly porous. The true genius of their design lies in its tunability; by carefully selecting the metal and organic components, scientists can customize the size, shape, and chemical environment of the pores within the crystal.
This architectural control at the molecular level results in materials with astonishingly large internal surface areas. A single gram of a MOF, for instance, can have a surface area equivalent to that of a football field if unfolded. It is this immense internal space that allows MOFs to act like molecular sponges, trapping specific gases while letting others pass through. Concurrently, their research into crystalline perovskites addressed a different challenge: creating semiconductor materials that are both highly efficient at converting sunlight into electricity and cheap to produce. They developed techniques to overcome the notorious instability of early perovskite crystals, paving the way for a new class of solar cells that now rival and even surpass traditional silicon-based technology in efficiency.
Solving the Carbon Dioxide Problem
One of the most celebrated applications of the laureates’ work is in carbon capture. MOFs have emerged as leading candidates for trapping carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, before it enters the atmosphere. Their porous structure can be tailored to have a high affinity for CO2 molecules, selectively adsorbing them from mixed gas streams, such as the flue gas from power plants or industrial facilities. This process, known as post-combustion capture, is a critical technology for decarbonizing heavy industry.
Mechanisms of Capture and Separation
The efficiency of MOFs in capturing CO2 stems from their tunable chemical and physical properties. Scientists can design pores that are the perfect size and shape to bind CO2 molecules through weak chemical interactions. The metal sites within the framework can be left open to act as powerful docking points for gas molecules. This targeted design gives MOFs a significant advantage over older materials like zeolites or activated carbon, as they can be more selective and require less energy to release the captured CO2 for permanent storage or utilization. This regeneration step is crucial for making the carbon capture process economically viable. Furthermore, research has focused on developing MOFs that are stable in the presence of water vapor, a major challenge that has hindered other materials in real-world industrial settings.
From Point Sources to Direct Air Capture
While capturing CO2 from concentrated sources like factory smokestacks is the primary focus, MOF technology is also being adapted for the far more difficult task of direct air capture (DAC). DAC involves removing CO2 directly from the ambient atmosphere, where its concentration is much lower. The high selectivity and capacity of MOFs make them promising for this application, which many scientists believe will be necessary to meet global climate goals. By engineering frameworks with an exceptionally high affinity for CO2, researchers are developing systems that can effectively filter the air, contributing to the reduction of existing atmospheric carbon levels.
Harnessing the Sun More Efficiently
In parallel with their work on porous crystals, the laureates’ research into perovskites has ignited a revolution in solar energy. Perovskites are a class of materials with a specific crystal structure that makes them excellent semiconductors for solar cells. While traditional silicon solar panels have dominated the market for decades, they are approaching their theoretical efficiency limits and require energy-intensive manufacturing processes. The work of Thorne, Petrova, and Tanaka demonstrated that perovskite solar cells could be made cheaply using simple solution-based techniques and could achieve remarkable efficiencies.
Their breakthroughs tackled the material’s primary weakness: durability. Early perovskite cells would degrade rapidly when exposed to moisture, oxygen, and heat. The laureates developed new chemical compositions and layering techniques that dramatically improved the stability of the perovskite crystal structure, extending the operational lifetime of the cells from mere hours to many years. This newfound stability, combined with rapidly increasing efficiency, has made them the most promising next-generation solar technology. Recent advancements have seen perovskite-silicon tandem cells—which stack a perovskite cell on top of a traditional silicon one—reach power conversion efficiencies of 33.9%, surpassing the theoretical limit of silicon cells alone.
The Path to the Prize
The journey to this Nobel Prize began decades ago with fundamental research into crystal engineering and coordination chemistry. In the late 1990s, Dr. Thorne published seminal papers outlining a theoretical framework for building porous materials with predictable structures, a concept that would later become the basis for MOFs. Working independently, Dr. Petrova successfully synthesized the first highly stable and porous MOF in the early 2000s, demonstrating its remarkable capacity for gas storage. Dr. Tanaka’s contribution was pivotal in applying these principles to green technology. He was the first to demonstrate, through a series of groundbreaking experiments, that specific MOFs could selectively capture CO2 from flue gas with high efficiency. Simultaneously, his lab developed novel fabrication methods for perovskite crystals that enhanced their electronic properties and durability, setting the stage for their use in high-performance solar cells.
Challenges and Future Outlook
Despite the enormous progress, challenges remain in the widespread adoption of these technologies. For metal-organic frameworks, the primary hurdles include the cost of the metal precursors and scaling up production from laboratory batches to the immense industrial quantities required for global impact. Researchers are actively exploring the use of more abundant and less expensive metals and developing more sustainable synthesis methods. For perovskite solar cells, ensuring long-term stability over a 25 to 30-year lifespan, comparable to silicon panels, is the final barrier to large-scale commercialization. Ongoing research is focused on new encapsulation techniques and more robust crystal formulations to prevent degradation over time.
The future for these designer crystals is incredibly bright. Their applications extend far beyond carbon capture and solar energy. Scientists are exploring their use in catalysis, energy storage, water purification, and even drug delivery. The foundational work of Thorne, Petrova, and Tanaka has not only provided solutions to today’s environmental problems but has also opened up a new field of chemistry where materials can be built from the ground up to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
