Published: 13. 10. 2025
This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2025) was awarded to three professors – Suzumu Kitagawa from Kyoto University (Japan), Richard Robson from the University of Oxford (UK) and the University of Melbourne (Australia), and Omar M. Yaghi from the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Illinois (USA) – for the discovery and development of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).
The discovery of MOFs dates back to 1999. These materials consist of metal centers (e.g., Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Ni²⁺) and organic ligands, forming precisely arranged three-dimensional networks. These structures have internal cavities (pores), making them particularly suitable for gas storage, such as hydrogen or helium. Their stable crystal lattice and the possibility of changing the size and shape of the pores depending on the type of ligand make MOFs materials with great technological potential – from energy to environmental applications.
One of the first and best-known types of metal-organic structures is the compound Cu₃(BTC)₂, known as HKUST-1. It was precisely the synthesis and study of the properties of this compound that Assoc. Prof. Tokárová (at that time publishing under her maiden name Puterová), now working at the Faculty of Natural Sciences at UCM in Trnava, focused on during her postdoctoral internship at Jagiellonian University in Krakow (2008).
Associate Professor Tokárová's research focused on modifying the conditions for spontaneous crystal growth without unwanted aggregation. Using AFM and STM microscopic techniques, she was able to precisely characterize the height, orientation, and structure of individual crystals at the atomic level, thereby making a significant contribution to the development of knowledge about MOFs. The results of the research, with Associate Professor Tokárová as a co-author, were published in the prestigious journal of the American Chemical Society in 2008 (full article here) and received positive feedback from Nobel Prize winner Prof. Suzumu Kitagawa and his research team (information about the research can be found here).
Although MOF research is not currently being conducted at FPV UCM, this field is still alive in Slovakia – for example, it continues in Prof. Zeleňák's group at UPJŠ in Košice.
Achievements such as the awarding of the Nobel Prize remind us of the importance of long-term and systematic scientific research. The work of scientists from our faculty also shows that even smaller academic institutions can contribute to world discoveries and leave a lasting mark on the global scientific community.
