The winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was once a recipient of the VinFuture Prize.

Professor Omar M. Yaghi, an American chemist of Jordanian origin, who recently won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, received the 2021 VinFuture Special Prize.

The Nobel Committee for Chemistry said that Professor Omar M. Yaghi and two professors, Susumu Kitagawa and Richard Robson, were awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing “metal-organic frameworks” (MOFs), a type of molecular architecture capable of storing large amounts of gas in a microscopic structure. The Nobel Committee compared this work to Hermione Granger’s magic bag in the Harry Potter books.

Their work opens up possibilities for applications to pressing problems such as climate change, harvesting water from desert air, storing toxic gases, and catalyzing chemical reactions.

Professor Omar M. Yaghi, one of three winners of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, holds a molecular model to explain about MOFs materials. (Photo: Nhan Dan Newspaper)

Heiner Linke, chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, described MOFs as “hotel rooms” – where molecules can come and go like guests. One gram of MOF material has an internal surface area equivalent to a football field.

Previously, Professor Yaghi was honored at the first VinFuture Prize (2021) for his pioneering work in discovering metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), in the Special Prize category for " Scientists researching new fields". This prize is worth 500,000 USD (equivalent to more than 13 billion VND).

According to the assessment of the VinFuture Prize Council in 2021, the new MOFs material can change the lives of millions of people living in places where clean water is scarce, helping them become self-sufficient in water resources and improve the quality of daily life.

Prof. Yaghi received the Special Prize for scientists researching in new fields of the VinFuture Prize 2021. (Photo: VFP)

Professor Yaghi receiving the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is not only a source of pride for the global scientific community but also affirms the strategic vision and ability to discover important inventions of the VinFuture Prize.

Notably, Professor Susumu Kitagawa, co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry this year, is also a scientist who has actively participated in and contributed to the development of the VinFuture Prize. This further highlights the role of VinFuture as a bridge, promoting the connection between Vietnamese scientists and the international scientific community.

Minh Hoan

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/2025-nobel-of-chemistry-recipient-received-vinfuture-award-ar970318.html