TAIPEI, June 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Tang Prize, a
biennial award established in 2014, has honored five cycles of
laureates across various fields. Today (June 18th), the Tang Prize Foundation
announced Omar M. Yaghi, an esteemed
American chemist, as the recipient of the 2024 Tang Prize in
Sustainable Development. Prof. Yaghi is awarded for his
extraordinary contributions to sustainable development,
particularly his pioneering work with Metal-Organic Frameworks
(MOFs) and other ultra-porous frameworks that can be tailored for
carbon capture, hydrogen and methane storage, and water harvesting
from desert air. Prof. Yaghi's research has revolutionized the
field of chemistry and materials science, offering transformative
solutions for sustainable development through the creation of
customizable materials with exceptional properties.
Prof. Yaghi is currently the James and Neeltje Tretter Chair
Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, a Faculty
Scientist Affiliate at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and
the Founding Director of the Berkeley Global Science Institute.
Prof. Yaghi has introduced a new method for controlling four of
the smallest gas molecules in the atmosphere that significantly
impact our planet's sustainable development: carbon dioxide,
hydrogen, methane, and water. This was made possible through his
pioneering development of a new field of chemistry known as
reticular chemistry. Reticular chemistry is a new approach to
creating materials by linking organic and inorganic units into
strong, porous crystalline structures called metal-organic
frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs). Prof.
Yaghi demonstrated how these novel framework materials can trap,
concentrate, and manipulate hydrogen, methane, carbon dioxide, and
water from the air, offering innovative solutions to pressing
issues related to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), including energy, environment, and water resources.
As a pioneer of MOFs and COFs, Prof. Yaghi is the first
scientist to apply these innovative materials to the field of
sustainable development, demonstrating tangible and impressive
results. His pioneering work has yielded impressive
results. For example, he demonstrated that incorporating one of his
MOFs increases the carbon dioxide storage capability at room
temperature by 18 folds. Furthermore, chemically modified MOFs and
COFs can selectively capture voluminous amounts of carbon dioxide
from combustion gases. In the context of methane storage, a fuel
tank filled with MOFs can triple the amount of methane stored at
room temperature and safe pressures compared to a tank without MOFs
under the same conditions. This achievement allows automobiles to
triple the distance traveled without refueling. Additionally, for
hydrogen storage, MOF and COF materials can store up to twelve
weight percent of hydrogen (at 77 K
and 100 bar) in a tank filled with MOFs, making this technology
relevant to the safe and stationary storage of hydrogen.
Using just a kilogram of MOF materials, Prof. Yaghi can harvest
water in water-scarce areas with low humidity, such as deserts,
using only ambient sunlight. The water is concentrated in the pores
of MOFs, and its quality exceeds the standards for drinking water
set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In collaboration with
industrial companies including General Electric and startups in the
past few years, he has developed portable MOFs water harvesters
capable of producing hundreds of liters of water per day in an
energy-efficient and cost-effective manner, sufficient for meeting
the needs of a family.
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