Nobel Chemistry Prize-winner Kitagawa sends encouragement to researchers

Kitagawa Susumu, a co-winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry, has encouraged researchers to work tenaciously without giving up.

Kitagawa gave a lecture in Tokyo on Wednesday. It was organized by the Chemical Society of Japan, with about 260 researchers and others in attendance. Kitagawa won the prize for creating molecular constructions called metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs.

 He pointed out that MOFs, which have many tiny holes, can be used to store and separate certain gases. He noted that MOFs have the potential for storing natural gas and recovering carbon dioxide. Kitagawa said more than 50 startups now handle such materials, and that some of them have started tests and begun putting them into practical use.