Please join the Richland Section for a presentation by Dr. Matthew Hurlock, “MOFs: the Molecular Sponge – An introduction and discussion on the material at the center of the 2025 Noble Prize in Chemistry“.

Dr. Hurlock is a chemist and materials scientist in the Materials and System Design team, a part of the Nuclear Materials group at PNNL. For the last decade, he has worked with metal–organic frameworks (MOFs); designing, synthesizing, and testing these materials for various applications. Currently, his work focuses on using MOFs and other advanced porous materials to develop and demonstrate scalable separations, capture, and monitoring systems of hazardous compounds. His research interests focus on studying sorbent materials under real process conditions and extreme environments to gain material design insights for new and emerging separations.

As the pores of sponge can soak up water the pores of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) allow scientists to grab gases out of air and pollutants out of water. MOFs have pores so small that only a single molecule can enter at a time but enough surface area that a single gram, the same amount in a pack of sugar, of the material is equivalent in area to a football field. These incredible materials have received recent attention as the center of the 2025 Noble Prize in Chemistry, but where does that leave these materials? This Science Café will illustrate how MOFs went from niche compounds to Noble prize winners and discuss how materials are used now and where MOFs are going in the future. Snacks and refreshments will be served.

This will be a hybrid event. Register by clicking here or scanning the code.

Event flyer: 2026_07_16 – MOF Cafe flyer

When: July 16, 2026 at 6 pm

Where: Richland Public Library (955 Northgate Dr, Richland, WA 99352), Conference Room A, or Zoom (https://american-chemical-society.zoom.com/meeting/register/zUR72QAkRW-PqiI_sYMe2w)