A humble Australian professor has stepped into the global spotlight, accepting science's most prestigious prize at a glittering ceremony.
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The University of Melbourne's Richard Robson thanked his friends, family and colleagues as he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry at the Stockholm Concert Hall.
The 88-year-old shares the award with Japan's Susumu Kitagawa and American-Jordanian Omar Yaghi, for their groundbreaking work in pioneering a new form of molecular architecture.
The three laureates created molecular constructions with large spaces, through which gases and other chemicals can flow.
This technology can be used to harvest water from desert air, capture carbon dioxide or store toxic gases.
Prof Robson delivered his chemistry lecture before the award ceremony, where he explained his groundbreaking research.
"The idea had sat around in my mind for a number of years," he said.
The concept itself occurred to him while building models for teaching, which was the starting point for the growing field of metal-organic frameworks.
Over a 10-year period, he would often revisit his framework and concepts while preparing lectures in his field of chemistry.
The Nobel Committee in October noted the trio's metal-organic framework had a remarkably large surface area, which meant it could store huge amounts of gas in a tiny volume.
For example, a porous material roughly the size of a sugar cube could contain as much surface area as a large football pitch.
"A small amount of such material can be almost like Hermione's handbag in Harry Potter," said Olof Ramstrom, member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.
Prof Robson smiled at Swedish King Carl Gustaf XVI as he shook his hand and accepted the Nobel medal and diploma on Wednesday.
He was surrounded by family, long-time colleague and friend, Professor Brendan Abrahams, and former PhD students who made the journey to celebrate their mentor as he received the honour.
"I'd like to thank my wife, my daughter, and my son for their love and support," Prof Robson said.
"It's a pleasure for me to see most of my PhD students and post-doctoral researchers from the 80s and 90s here in the room."
Prof Robson, who is the ninth oldest Nobel Prize winner, continues to teach at University of Melbourne.
The oldest Nobel winner, at 97, was John B Goodenough, who also won the chemistry prize in 2019 for his development of lithium-ion batteries.
Australian Associated Press
