Omar M. Yaghi, a Palestinian American Muslim scientist and the James and Neeltje Tretter Professor of Chemistry at UC Berkeley, has won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
He shares the award with Susumu Kitagawa of Kyoto University and Richard Robson of the University of Melbourne.
For creating metal organic frameworks (MOFs) ultra porous, sponge like materials that can store gases, capture pollutants, speed up reactions, and even pull water from desert air.
A pioneer of reticular chemistry
Omar Yaghi started a field called reticular chemistry.
In simple terms, it connects tiny molecular “building blocks,” like Lego pieces, to make big, crystal like structures with very exact shapes.
These structures are full of tiny pores, so they have an extremely large inner surface area more room inside than they seem to have from the outside.
While working at UCLA (2006–2011) and later at UC Berkeley, Yaghi’s teams built several families of these materials: metal organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs), and zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs).
In short, they turned ideas from the lab bench into real materials that scientists can use.
Materials with real world impact
Moreover, these frameworks solve everyday problems. Certain MOFs store methane or hydrogen, which could help cleaner vehicles.
Others trap carbon dioxide from exhaust streams, helping cut greenhouse emissions.
Some act like tiny factories that drive chemical reactions more efficiently, while water harvesting MOFs pull moisture from arid air to provide drinking water.
In short, Yaghi’s chemistry translates into cleaner air, smarter energy use, and new ways to make essential products.
A milestone for science and Muslim representation
Finally, Yaghi’s win is a moment of pride well beyond the lab.
When the Nobel prize was announced, he was widely reported as the 16th Muslim Nobel laureate and the fourth Muslim scientist to receive a Nobel in the sciences.
For students and researchers worldwide especially those from Palestinian and Muslim backgrounds his career shows how bold ideas and steady teamwork can deliver life changing technologies.
As the Nobel committee noted, Yaghi’s work on MOFs open the door to “custom made” materials with new and interesting functions.
