Chemistry · February 2026
Molecular cages that pull drinking water from desert air
1,000 L / day
Metal-organic frameworks are crystals built like scaffolding: metal joints and organic struts that leave cages with a huge inner surface. Air flows through, water molecules settle in the cages, and a little sunlight releases them as vapour that condenses into drinking water.
Omar Yaghi, who shared the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this family of materials, and his company Atoco built a solar, off-grid machine the size of a shipping container that works even below 20% humidity.