The nanoscience behind the 2025 Nobel Prizes

28.10.2025

The Nobel Prize Winners Symposium, organised by IMDEA Nanociencia, aims to explain in an informative way the contributions of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics, Chemistry, and Physiology or Medicine, with three talks given by researchers.

Madrid, 28th October, 2025.

The 2025 Nobel Prizes in Natural Sciences celebrate the latest advances in science that have the potential to positively impact our lives. This year, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded prizes in fields of knowledge that are closely related to IMDEA Nanoscience's areas of research.

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi for the development of a new type of molecular architecture: metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). These materials are of enormous interest due to their ability to harbour specific molecules in the cavities of their structure and the possibility of modulating their properties in a controlled manner, with almost infinite possibilities. This advance means that it is now possible to create materials that extract water from the desert air, store oxygen in submarines or selectively trap polluting gases.

A metal-organic framework, also called a coordination polymer, is a class of material consisting of metal ions interlinked using organic ligands, containing large pores or spatial voids. They are composed of a metallic part, which provides the main properties, and an organic part, which gives the three-dimensional architecture and modulates the properties of the metallic centre. Almost all transition metals in the periodic table, including lanthanides and actinides, can form MOF networks. There are already 68 different networks, and for each metal, an infinite number of coordination ligands can be used: of variable length, chiral or non-chiral, which can incorporate other molecules, etc. Also, depending on how they are synthesised, they can crystallise in one phase or another, giving rise to different geometries. The combination and permutation of elements gives rise to an infinite number of possible MOF networks, each with different properties and possible applications. To date, the Cambridge Structural Database, the renowned database of organic and metal-organic structures at the University of Cambridge, has catalogued more than 12,000 MOFs.

Until the discovery of MOFs, the most commonly used porous materials were zeolites, inorganic compounds that are very robust and effective for catalysis, but limited in their selectivity for trapping molecules. The emergence of MOFs represented a decisive leap forward by introducing versatile structures into a field that connects chemistry, physics and biology.

Although their production remains costly and they are therefore still unable to compete with cheaper materials such as activated carbon, MOF networks have already begun to be implemented in commercial applications. Some companies incorporate them into gas bottles to increase their storage capacity. They are also used to transport oxygen in submarines or spacecraft, to capture carbon dioxide and to obtain water from the air. Recently, they have been proposed as catalysts in chemical reactions, allowing the reaction speed to be controlled and enabling reuse. Their versatility makes them promising in fields such as molecular magnetism, water treatment, where they can absorb pesticides, or biomedicine, where they can encapsulate drugs and release them in a controlled manner thanks to their pH response.

Metal-organic frameworks and IMDEA Nanociencia

In Spain, one of the most dynamic and collaborative networks is the one researching metal-organic networks. Some of the researchers in this community work in Madrid, at IMDEA Nanoscience, creating and discovering new properties of these fascinating materials.

The Nanostructured Photovoltaics group, led by Enrique Cánovas, investigates MOFs as active elements in electronic devices. The ‘Pump-Probe and Photoinduced Absorption Spectroscopies’ group, led by Juan Cabanillas, investigates the luminescent properties of MOF architectures in connection with their ability to detect gases such as NO₂, SO₂, or vapours of explosive compounds. Metal-organic networks can also be 2D; the ‘Nanoarchitectonics on Surfaces’ group, led by David Écija, investigates the magnetic properties that these networks can have on surfaces.

At IMDEA Nanoscience, MOF networks are ‘cooked’ in the laboratory of José Sánchez Costa, leader of the ‘Switchable Nanomaterials’ group. Its main ingredients are iron atoms, which give the material switchable properties: they act as an on/off switch capable of modulating various physical and chemical properties, such as optical, magnetic, volumetric, and even conductivity responses. These processes occur not only in bulk material but also at the nanoscale. The group is currently working on developing new MOF materials capable of absorbing infrared light and retaining heat, with the aim of regulating the temperature in buildings and greenhouses. In addition, in collaboration with the group led by Prof. Nazario Martín, deputy director of IMDEA Nanociencia and professor in the Department of Organic Chemistry at the Complutense University of Madrid, they have created a series of lanthanide-based MOFs that can detect polluting gases through changes in their luminescent properties at room temperature.

All these lines of research are directly linked to Nobel Prize-winning contributions, demonstrating the relevance of metal-organic networks in advanced materials science. IMDEA Nanociencia works at the frontier of knowledge in cutting-edge research through its six applied research programmes: nanotechnology for energy harvesting, quantum materials, nanoparticles for biomedical applications, nanomagnetism for information technologies, ultrafast phenomena at the nanoscale, and nanotechnology for critical and sustainable materials. IMDEA Nanociencia's highly interdisciplinary ecosystem generates discoveries that address society's major challenges: health and well-being, energy and the environment, aerospace, security and defence. IMDEA Nanociencia's missions are to attract talent, develop scientific excellence and address the strategic needs of companies and institutions in order to generate knowledge and wealth from basic science.

The symposium explaining the discoveries of the Nobel Prize winners

Every year since 2016, IMDEA Nanociencia has organised the Nobel Prize Winners Symposium, in which researchers from fields related to the research areas of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine, Physics and Chemistry that year give their views on the Prize with a brief historical overview and the scientific basis behind the discovery. This year, the symposium will be held on 9 December 2025 and will feature confirmed speakers from IMDEA Nanociencia: Prof. Francisco Guinea (Nobel Prize in Physics) and José Sánchez Costa (Nobel Prize in Chemistry). The event is open to the public and will also be broadcast via teleconference.

nobel symposium 2025 banner

More information:

https://nanociencia.imdea.org/es/imdea-nanociencia/seminarios

Contact:

Oficina de Divulgación y Comunicación de IMDEA Nanociencia
divulgacion.nanociencia [at]imdea.org

Source: IMDEA Nanociencia.