4 ms·

Metal-Organic Frameworks, Chemistry's New Miracle Materials (2018)

70 points by andsoitis 4mo ago

_JamesA_ 4mo ago
From the "Fall 2018 Culture Shift" issue of California Magazine.
deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]
tastyfreeze 4mo ago
I first read about MOFs a few years ago when searching for methods of converting methane into methanol or other high value compounds. They really sound like sci-fi materials. The perfect tailored catalyst for many reactions with astounding efficiency and selectivity. I would agree that they really are miracle materials. Hopefully they will be easy to produce and cheap so we can get on with building transmutation machines. One compound in and another out.
motoboi 4mo ago
> He’s also in the conversation for a Nobel. How does that work, actually?
- lern_too_spel 4mo ago
  He was awarded the Prize in 2025 for his work on MOFs. I assume this old article was posted because of https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02143-x https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02143-x.
  - kreelman 4mo ago
    Climbing up on a soap box.... I'd really like it if the United States could very soon get rid of or at the very least eventually vote out Donald Trump. The Nature article points to the MOF Nobel prize winner going to China. I gather this is because science is getting defunded in the US? I think defunding science shows an incredibly short term view and damages the future for the world, starting with America. Have a look at this video by the Australian Economics professor, Justin Wolfers, working in the US, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkUEVl8uamM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkUEVl8uamM I know there are problems with the US democracy that have been in play for decades. There is inequality, there is racism and religious bias... I think throwing out the entire system that largely worked doesn't solve these problems and in fact makes the future worse for our kids. The video above argues that the damage done now to universities will be noticeable in decades time. Even doing a large funding push to universities may not fully repair the damage being done now. The US is not a perfect place nor a perfect actor, but when governed reasonably I think it is better than China in terms of its aims, philosophies and interactions. Hopefully his work done in China will be shared globally.
    - Revanche1367 4mo ago
      That might be his reason but Prof. Yaghi is from a Palestinian refugee family and born in Jordan. There are probably more than a few reasons he might not feel welcome in the US at the moment.
      - ceejayoz 4mo ago
        Both of those reasons boil down to Trump at the end, though.
        Revanche1367 4mo ago
        Yes, definitely agreed on that.
    - jasonhong 4mo ago
      I heard an interview with him this morning, where he's already in China. Some of his stated reasons for the move (also listed in the articles below) include the slashed research funding in the USA, increasing restrictions on research and international collaborations, as well as wanting a stronger push for the AI revolution in science. https://www.kompas.id/artikel/when-nobel-winner-in-chemistry-left-america-for-china https://www.kompas.id/artikel/when-nobel-winner-in-chemistry... https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/why-nobel-laureate-leaving-uc-130030285.html https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/why-nobel-laurea...
darkssel 4mo ago
[flagged]
chairhairair 4mo ago
This is from 2018
- gjmulhol 4mo ago
  Not only is this from 2018, but Yaghi himself demonstrated MOFs in 1995 so "new" is pretty relative.
westurner 4mo ago
MOF or COF for quantum computing? Maybe "Radical COFs" or "Spintronic COFs", or Carbon-Linked Covalent Organic Frameworks for Spintronics, e.g. GQD Graphene Quantum Dots; GQD-COFs
ottotarc 4mo ago
[dead]
deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]
cactusfrog 4mo ago
Zeolites are better
ChrisArchitect 4mo ago
(2018) Maybe say something about why you submitted this now OP? But more recently, this went on to win the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2025/popular-information/ https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2025/popular-inf... (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45514164 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45514164)
- raincom 4mo ago
  Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Omar M. Yaghi joins Tsinghua University full-time https://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/info/1244/14984.htm https://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/info/1244/14984.htm
robk 4mo ago
Cusp AI is doing interesting things in this space

70 points by andsoitis 4mo ago

_JamesA_ 4mo ago

From the "Fall 2018 Culture Shift" issue of California Magazine.

deleted 4mo ago

[deleted]

tastyfreeze 4mo ago

I first read about MOFs a few years ago when searching for methods of converting methane into methanol or other high value compounds. They really sound like sci-fi materials. The perfect tailored catalyst for many reactions with astounding efficiency and selectivity. I would agree that they really are miracle materials. Hopefully they will be easy to produce and cheap so we can get on with building transmutation machines. One compound in and another out.

motoboi 4mo ago

> He’s also in the conversation for a Nobel. How does that work, actually?

lern_too_spel 4mo ago
He was awarded the Prize in 2025 for his work on MOFs. I assume this old article was posted because of https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02143-x https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02143-x.
- kreelman 4mo ago
  Climbing up on a soap box.... I'd really like it if the United States could very soon get rid of or at the very least eventually vote out Donald Trump. The Nature article points to the MOF Nobel prize winner going to China. I gather this is because science is getting defunded in the US? I think defunding science shows an incredibly short term view and damages the future for the world, starting with America. Have a look at this video by the Australian Economics professor, Justin Wolfers, working in the US, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkUEVl8uamM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkUEVl8uamM I know there are problems with the US democracy that have been in play for decades. There is inequality, there is racism and religious bias... I think throwing out the entire system that largely worked doesn't solve these problems and in fact makes the future worse for our kids. The video above argues that the damage done now to universities will be noticeable in decades time. Even doing a large funding push to universities may not fully repair the damage being done now. The US is not a perfect place nor a perfect actor, but when governed reasonably I think it is better than China in terms of its aims, philosophies and interactions. Hopefully his work done in China will be shared globally.
  - Revanche1367 4mo ago
    That might be his reason but Prof. Yaghi is from a Palestinian refugee family and born in Jordan. There are probably more than a few reasons he might not feel welcome in the US at the moment.
    - ceejayoz 4mo ago
      Both of those reasons boil down to Trump at the end, though.
      - Revanche1367 4mo ago
        Yes, definitely agreed on that.
  - jasonhong 4mo ago
    I heard an interview with him this morning, where he's already in China. Some of his stated reasons for the move (also listed in the articles below) include the slashed research funding in the USA, increasing restrictions on research and international collaborations, as well as wanting a stronger push for the AI revolution in science. https://www.kompas.id/artikel/when-nobel-winner-in-chemistry-left-america-for-china https://www.kompas.id/artikel/when-nobel-winner-in-chemistry... https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/why-nobel-laureate-leaving-uc-130030285.html https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/why-nobel-laurea...

darkssel 4mo ago

[flagged]

chairhairair 4mo ago

This is from 2018

gjmulhol 4mo ago
Not only is this from 2018, but Yaghi himself demonstrated MOFs in 1995 so "new" is pretty relative.

westurner 4mo ago

MOF or COF for quantum computing? Maybe "Radical COFs" or "Spintronic COFs", or Carbon-Linked Covalent Organic Frameworks for Spintronics, e.g. GQD Graphene Quantum Dots; GQD-COFs

ottotarc 4mo ago

[dead]

deleted 4mo ago

[deleted]

cactusfrog 4mo ago

Zeolites are better

ChrisArchitect 4mo ago

(2018) Maybe say something about why you submitted this now OP? But more recently, this went on to win the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2025/popular-information/ https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2025/popular-inf... (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45514164 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45514164)

raincom 4mo ago
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Omar M. Yaghi joins Tsinghua University full-time https://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/info/1244/14984.htm https://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/info/1244/14984.htm

robk 4mo ago

Cusp AI is doing interesting things in this space