Mining the Air: MOFs Could Turn Atmospheric Gases into Feedstocks
Nobel laureate Susumu Kitagawa argues that metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and other porous materials could allow humanity to “mine” raw materials from the air—capturing gases like CO2, nitrogen, and hydrogen from water vapor to create fuels and chemicals. His work focuses on making MOFs more robust, selective, and hydrophobic to improve gas capture while avoiding energy-wasteful separations. The vision, while promising, faces high costs, energy demands, and political hurdles, and could take decades to realize as the world shifts toward a dilute-molecule economy.
