MOFs / COFs

COFs and their cousin materials, metal organic frameworks (MOFs), are porous three-dimensional crystals with extraordinarily large internal surface areas that can absorb and store enormous quantities of targeted molecules. Invented by UC Berkeley's Professor Omar Yaghi, COFs and MOFs consist of molecules (organics for COFs and metal-organics for MOFs) that are stitched into large and extended netlike frameworks whose structures are held together by strong chemical bonds. Such frameworks show great promise for, among other applications, carbon sequestration.

Omar Yaghi wins 2018 Eni Energy Transition Award

July 23, 2018


Omar YaghiEni has announced the winners of the 11th edition of the Eni Award. Omar Yaghi has received this year's Energy Transition Award. Over the years, the award, established in 2007, has become an international point of reference for research in the energy and environmental sectors. The Eni Award aims to reflect the importance of scientific research and innovation, promoting a better use of energy sources and encouraging a new generation of researchers.

Feodor Lynen fellow Domink Halter joins research group of Jeffrey Long

July 13, 2018


Boreskov Institute of CatalysisDr. Dominik Halter has been awarded a Feodor Lynen fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, to join the chemistry research group of Professor Jeffrey Long as a postdoctoral researcher. Halter’s research at Berkeley will focus on the development of new metal-organic frameworks with coordinatively unsaturated metal sites for hydrogen storage and catalysis.

Water harvester delivers fresh water from air

June 8, 2018


Markus Kalmutzki, Farhad Fathieh and Eugene Kapustin set up the water harvester. (Stephen McNally photo)A UC Berkeley team headed by Omar Yaghi plopped their newest prototype water harvester into the backyard of a tract home in Arizona and started sucking water out of the air without any power other than sunlight.

Professors Omar Yaghi and Evelyn Wang awarded international water prize

June 21, 2018


Yaghi and Wang awarded international water prizeThe team of Professors Omar Yaghi (UC Berkeley) and Evelyn Wang (MIT) have won the Alternative Water Resources prize, which will be awarded at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

Atmospheric harvesters will enable arid nations to drink from thin air

May 3, 2018

Omar YaghiA newly developed sorbent-based alternative has recently shown that it can harvest atmospheric moisture even when the relative humidity drops to around 10 percent. Under those conditions, that works out to around three liters of water for every million...

Omar Yaghi awarded 2018 Wolf Prize

February 14, 2018

Omar Yaghi awarded 2018 wolf Prize The Wolf Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to The James and Neeltje Tretter Professor of Chemistry Omar M. Yaghi, University of California, Berkeley, for “pioneering reticular chemistry via metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs).”

World-wide science

November 16, 2017

Omar Yaghi with postdocsBased at UC Berkeley, BGSI is dedicated to developing fundamental science research in foreign countries aided by funds provided by local governments, industries, and institutions.

Omar Yaghi receives the 2017 Albert Einstein World Award of Science prize

November 8, 2017

Omar YaghiProfessor Omar M. Yaghi, the James and Neeltje Tretter Chair and Professor of Chemistry at UC Berkeley was presented with the Albert Einstein World Award at a ceremony today in Amsterdam at Leiden University. This prize is sponsored by the World Cultural Council.

Yaghi wins Mustafa Scientific Prize

January 5, 2016

Omar Yahgi. Photo by Lawrence Berkeley Nat'l Lab - Roy Kaltschmidt, photographerChemistry professor Omar Yaghi has won an inaugural Mustafa Scientific Prize, awarded by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states. The award ceremony was held in Tehran, Iran, in December.

Water Out of Thin Air? Scientists Says It Can Be Done

April 13, 2017

Omar YaghiScientists have developed a box that can convert low-humidity air into water, producing several litres every 12 hours. Omar Yaghi, a chemistry professor at University of California, Berkeley, envisions a future where the water is produced off-grid for individual homes and...