Richard Robson
Facts
Ill. Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach
Richard Robson
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025
Born: 4 June 1937, Glusburn, United Kingdom
Affiliation at the time of the award: University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Prize motivation: “for the development of metal–organic frameworks”
Prize share: 1/3
Work
Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous materials in which metal ions and long carbon-based molecules form crystals with built-in cavities. By varying the building blocks, specific substances can be captured and stored inside the cavities. Richard Robson developed the first MOFs in 1989. Since Susumu Kitagawa and Omar Yaghi developed more flexible and stable MOFs, they have become possible to use, for example, to harvest water from desert air, capture carbon dioxide, store toxic gases or catalyse chemical reactions.
Streams during Nobel Week
Watch the 2025 Nobel Prize lectures, Nobel Week Dialogue, the prize award ceremonies in Oslo and Stockholm and Nobel Peace Prize Forum here at nobelprize.org.
