A Nobel moment for the ‘solids full of holes’

It’s a big week for the metal–organic framework (MOF) community – and for our department’s Professor David Fairen-Jimenez, who has spent decades exploring these remarkable ‘solids full of holes’.

Professor Fairen-Jimenez, who leads CEB’s research in MOFs, says this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry is a huge development for his area of research.

The prize has gone to Omar Yaghi, Susumu Kitagawa and Richard Robson for their work on MOFs. These crystalline materials are full of tiny, perfectly ordered pores that can trap, store or release molecules in remarkable ways – offering new possibilities for carbon capture, clean energy and healthcare.

David says that the recognition feels deeply personal.

“For those of us who’ve spent the past two decades exploring these ‘solids full of holes’, this Nobel celebrates not only three visionary scientists but an entire community that has grown around this idea.”

He adds that the award is 'obviously super good for the community' – giving important visibility to an area of chemistry that’s still not widely known outside the scientific world.

As part of the global response to the announcement, David spoke to AFP about the science behind MOFs. In his interview, he explained how their extraordinary storage capacity can be imagined in simple terms.

“Think of your bathroom mirror fogging up,” he said. “Now imagine that mirror made of a material full of tiny holes the size of water molecules – it would be able to hold far more.”

At CEB, David’s group is pushing the boundaries of what these materials can do – from designing MOFs that capture carbon dioxide to using them to deliver life-saving drugs.

Their work has already inspired two Cambridge spinouts – Immaterial, scaling up MOFs for carbon capture and clean energy storage, and Vector Bioscience Cambridge, developing next-generation drug delivery systems.

Reflecting on the week’s events, David said, “It’s been a pretty great few days for our small science community. Proud, excited, happy – all the feelings."

On a more light-hearted note, he added: "I have sent a lot of news articles to friends outside of science this week - I am looking forward to them having an understanding of what I do, and to stop thinking of moths when I tell them of MOFs."