COMPANY PROFILE / NANOTECHNOLOGY
BASF
A German chemical company that says it can make metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), crystals with nanoscale pores, at several hundred tonnes a year (MOFs only)
BASF is one of the world's largest chemical companies, headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. This article covers only its metal-organic framework (MOF) activities. A MOF is a porous crystal built from metal ions and organic molecules. Its cavities are nanometres across, and it can hold large amounts of gas or water vapour. The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi for developing this class of materials. In October 2023 BASF announced that it was the first company to make MOFs at a production scale of several hundred tonnes a year. It says it makes CALF-20, a MOF for carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture, for Svante Technologies of Canada at its site in Seneca, South Carolina. BASF's 2025 annual report, however, has no mention of MOFs, and accurate figures for MOF sales and capacity are not published. Drawing on the company's official announcements and annual report, and on public documents from a customer and from the U.S. Department of Energy, this article sets out what could be confirmed and what could not, and then explains, from a materials engineer's view, how the pores, resistance to water vapour and the difficulty of scale-up bear on performance.
- At a glance: BASF and its place in nanotechnology
- Logo and naming
- Where the company sits in nanotechnology
- Company scale
- Resources committed to nanotechnology
- Track record
- Plans
- What the company is aiming for in nanotechnology
- Partnership map for nanotechnology
- Technologies, products and services
- Risks
- Glossary
- References
- Claim-to-source audit
1. At a glance: BASF and its place in nanotechnology
Frankfurt (BAS)American depositary receipts in the U.S. (BASFY), as stated in the October 2023 announcement
CO₂ capture, water-vapour adsorptionThe company says it now focuses on two uses, storing CO₂ and storing water (December 2025)
(company statement, October 2023)The company's claim. Exact capacity and utilization are not published
(Performance Chemicals)The chemical catalysts and adsorbents business has been reported there since January 2025 (annual report)
BASF's MOFs are small enough, set against the whole company (sales of EUR 59.7 billion), not to appear in the annual report. They still draw attention because BASF says it can make MOFs at several hundred tonnes a year, and cites as proof that it makes CALF-20 for carbon capture for Svante, and because the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to MOFs, with the Nobel materials introducing CALF-20 Sourced. But "first in the world to make MOFs on a commercial scale" is the company's own claim, and the capacity breakdown, utilization, sales and the volumes and prices in the Svante contract are not published. The company says it wants to develop uses beyond CO₂ capture, including water adsorption (pilot projects for dehumidifying air conditioning), "together with partners," but these are forward-looking statements Not yet confirmed.
2. Logo and naming
The logo is the white corporate logo (a square mark, the letters BASF and the tagline "We create chemistry") published in the header of BASF's official website, basf.com, obtained as-is. Because the image is white, it is placed in a dark frame so it can be seen. It is not a generated reproduction.
A note on names: the company is BASF SE. This article covers only the MOF business, not BASF's other businesses (agricultural solutions, coatings, environmental catalysts, battery materials and so on). The MOF activity is handled by the chemical catalysts and adsorbents unit.
Official website: https://www.basf.com/3. Where the company sits in nanotechnology
BASF's primary type is nanomaterial producer; it has no secondary type. BASF makes the MOF and hands it to customers; the equipment that uses it (carbon-capture units, dehumidifiers) is built by customers and partners. The table below sets out the materials and uses covered in this article, as far as they could be confirmed.
| Material, use | BASF's position | Primary sources | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| MOF as a solid sorbent for CO₂ capture (CALF-20) | The centre of this article. MOF for Svante's carbon-capture technology, scaled up by turning Svante's laboratory recipe into a plant procedure. Made at the Seneca, South Carolina site | BASF announcements (October 2023, December 2025), Svante's announcement | Sourced (company statement) |
| MOF for water-vapour adsorption (air-conditioning dehumidification and others) | Used in pilot projects for dehumidifying air conditioning, it says. It also has a joint development agreement with Montana Technologies (AirJoule) of the U.S. on producing MOFs at scale | BASF announcement (December 2025), U.S. Department of Energy announcement (November 2023) | Sourced (company statement) |
| MOF for hydrogen, natural gas and methane storage and other uses | BASF says its research began about 25 years ago and looked at a wide range of uses, including storing hydrogen, natural gas, CO₂ and water. It now concentrates on the two uses of water and CO₂ | BASF announcement (December 2025) | Sourced (company statement) |
| Nanomaterials other than MOFs (carbon nanomaterials, quantum dots and so on) | Outside this article. BASF's other businesses are out of scope | - | Not yet confirmed |
4. Company scale
BASF is a large company, and the whole group spans chemicals, materials, industrial solutions, nutrition and care, agriculture and surface technologies. The table below gives company-wide scale briefly, followed by what is disclosed for MOFs Sourced.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Sales | EUR 59.7 billion in 2025 (EUR 61.4 billion the year before) |
| EBITDA | EBITDA before special items of EUR 6.6 billion (down EUR 686 million year on year). EBITDA including special items was EUR 5.6 billion, after restructuring charges |
| Net income | EUR 1.6 billion in 2025 (EUR 1.3 billion the year before) |
| Employees | 108,251 (31 December 2025; 111,822 a year earlier). About 9,000 work in R&D |
| R&D spending | EUR 1,995 million in 2025 (EUR 1,969 million the year before) |
| Segment that includes MOFs | The Performance Chemicals division of the Industrial Solutions segment. The chemical and refining catalysts business has been reported there since January 2025 (previously in the catalysts division of the Surface Technologies segment). Industrial Solutions had 2025 sales of EUR 8,594 million |
| Headquarters and listing | Ludwigshafen, Germany. Frankfurt Stock Exchange (BAS); ADRs in the U.S. (BASFY) |
| Item disclosed for the MOF business | Detail |
|---|---|
| Sales and profit | Not disclosed. MOFs do not appear in the 2025 annual report |
| Production capacity | The October 2023 announcement says "a production scale of several hundred tonnes a year" and that the company can make customized MOFs at multiple sites. The December 2025 announcement names Seneca (U.S.) as the production site. Capacity by site and utilization are not disclosed |
| Headcount and researchers | Not disclosed (for MOFs) |
| R&D spending and capital investment | MOF-only figures are not disclosed. The investment at Seneca could not be confirmed either |
BASF's announcement cites an "internal surface area of up to 10,000 square metres per gram" for MOFs, but this describes the class of materials as a whole, not a value for a BASF product such as CALF-20. The measurement method and the MOF it refers to are not given. And "first to make MOFs on a commercial scale" is the company's claim; no comparison with other makers' situations is offered Not yet confirmed.
5. Resources committed to nanotechnology
Almost nothing is disclosed on staffing and investment for the MOF business alone. The table covers four points (people, money, external stakes and deals, universities and public funding) and says whether each could be confirmed.
| Item | What was confirmed | Status |
|---|---|---|
| People (R&D sites, headcount) | Headcount working on MOFs is not disclosed. Company-wide: 108,251 employees and about 9,000 in R&D (2025). The company says its MOF research began about 25 years ago. The October 2023 announcement says an interdisciplinary team of researchers, scale-up experts and engineers turned Svante's laboratory recipe into a safe plant procedure. Production site: Seneca, South Carolina, U.S. | Sourced / not disclosed |
| Money (R&D spending, capital investment) | Company-wide R&D spending is EUR 1,995 million (2025). MOF-only R&D and capital spending, and the investment at Seneca, could not be confirmed | Sourced / not disclosed (individual amounts) |
| Outside stakes, acquisitions, joint ventures, divestitures | No stake, acquisition, joint venture or divestiture in MOFs could be confirmed in official documents. The Svante relationship is a commercial supply agreement between independent parties (Svante's wording). The Montana Technologies relationship is a joint development agreement (U.S. Department of Energy announcement); no equity link could be confirmed | Not confirmed (stakes, joint ventures) |
| Universities, research institutes, public funding | Long collaboration with Professor Omar Yaghi (University of California, Berkeley). BASF started the California Research Alliance (CARA) in 2014, and Yaghi is a co-founder; as of 2023 it had worked with faculty and students from 11 universities on more than 110 projects, with 47 patent applications and 93 publications. The CALF-20 paper is by researchers at the University of Calgary and elsewhere (Science, 2021). Public funding for BASF's MOF work could not be confirmed | Sourced / not confirmed (public funding) |
Status of main products and facilities
| Product, facility | Location | Scale | Stage | Date, source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CALF-20 (MOF for CO₂ capture, for Svante) | Seneca, South Carolina, U.S. | "Several hundred tonnes a year" for MOFs overall. CALF-20 volume not disclosed | Operating (commercial supply agreement announced October 2023; production described as continuing in December 2025) | BASF announcements of 10 October 2023 and 3 December 2025; Svante's announcement |
| Capacity for customized MOFs | Multiple sites (only Seneca is named in the 2025 announcement) | Not disclosed | Capacity exists (company statement). Individual customers and uses are not disclosed | BASF announcement of 10 October 2023 |
| MOF for dehumidification (air conditioning) | Not disclosed | Pilot projects | Pilot (trials) | BASF announcement of 3 December 2025 |
| MOF for Montana Technologies (AirJoule) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Under the joint development agreement, scale-up and production at a commercially viable cost were demonstrated, according to the announcement. Not yet confirmed | U.S. Department of Energy announcement of 9 November 2023 |
6. Track record
| When | What happened | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Omar Yaghi and colleagues reported an exceptionally stable, highly porous metal-organic framework (MOF-5; Nature 402, 276-279) | A landmark basic study of MOFs (journal paper) |
| About 2000 | BASF began MOF research (the December 2025 announcement says "about 25 years ago") | A long preparation for industrial use |
| 2014 | BASF started CARA, a joint research framework with the University of California, Berkeley and others (beginning with ten postdoctoral positions) | Collaboration with West Coast U.S. universities |
| 2021 | The CALF-20 paper was published (Science 374, 1464-1469, December). In 2023 Svante said it had worked with BASF on scale-up for about two years | Joint development from laboratory toward plant |
| 10 October 2023 | BASF announced commercial-scale MOF production (several hundred tonnes a year). Svante announced a commercial supply agreement with BASF | Production and sales established (company statements) |
| 9 November 2023 | The U.S. Department of Energy and Montana Technologies announced that MOF production at scale had been demonstrated under a joint development agreement with BASF | Extension to water adsorption |
| October 2025 | The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was announced for the development of MOFs, to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi. The committee's public materials introduced CALF-20 | Academic recognition of the material class |
| 3 December 2025 | BASF announced that it makes MOFs on an industrial scale and that its focus is now the two uses of water and CO₂ storage (the Nobel ceremony was on 10 December) | The company's current positioning |
7. Plans
water storageThe two uses the company says it now concentrates on (December 2025)
to supplying dry regionsMentioned by the company as a possibility. No timing or scale given
In its December 2025 announcement BASF says MOFs are already used commercially to capture CO₂ and to recover water from air, and that it wants to develop, with partners, the other fields of application the Nobel committee highlighted (our paraphrase). No new plant, and no further MOF investment, is described in official documents. The company as a whole is pursuing cost cuts and restructuring centred on Ludwigshafen (restructuring charges of EUR 937 million in 2025), and how resources are allocated to MOFs cannot be read Not yet confirmed.
None of the following appears in primary sources Not yet confirmed.
MOF sales, profit and capacity (tonnes a year) by site, and utilization / the investment at Seneca and when it started operating / volumes, prices and term of the Svante contract / MOF products other than CALF-20 and their customers / product specifications such as surface area and pore size for BASF's MOFs / any further expansion plan / registration status under chemical regulations in each region / public funding for MOFs.
8. What the company is aiming for in nanotechnology
This section includes points the company does not state directly. They are given as inferences readable from the primary sources, with the grounds alongside.
| What can be read | Primary sources behind it | Status |
|---|---|---|
| BASF is building MOFs as a contract-style business that moves a customer's laboratory recipe into a plant | October 2023 announcement: Svante's laboratory recipe was converted into a safe plant procedure and scaled up. Customized MOFs can be made at multiple sites | Sourced (company statement) |
| For now it is concentrating on uses where markets are beginning to form, CO₂ capture and water adsorption | December 2025 announcement: current focus on storing water and CO₂. Hydrogen, natural gas and other uses were studied earlier but no longer appear to be the centre | Sourced (company statement) |
| The MOF business is still small within the company and not a separately disclosed item | No mention in the 2025 annual report. No sales or capacity figures in the announcements either | Inference |
| BASF intends to use the Nobel Prize as an occasion to win more customers and partners | December 2025 announcement: it wants to develop, with partners, the other fields the Nobel committee pointed to | Inference |
The reason for reading "the MOF business is still small" is how it is disclosed. BASF's 2025 annual report covers the business overview, sales by segment and an outline of R&D in detail, but does not mention MOFs. Yet the company issued dedicated press releases on MOFs in October 2023 and December 2025, stressing "several hundred tonnes a year" and "the first in the world," that is, its production scale and track record. It is natural to conclude that this is a business too small to affect company-wide results, but worth publicizing as a symbol of technical strength. This is our reading of combined statements in official documents, and actual sales, profit and investment cannot be confirmed from official documents Not yet confirmed.
9. Partnership map for nanotechnology
What stands out about BASF's relationships is that supply to Svante in CO₂ capture can be confirmed, while few other customers can be seen by name. BASF says it can make customized MOFs at multiple sites, but individual customers and volumes are not public. Svante says it aims for hundreds of large carbon-capture facilities by 2030, but this is Svante's target, and its effect on demand for BASF's MOFs cannot be confirmed Not yet confirmed.
10. Technologies, products and services
The following draws on BASF's official announcements, those of its customer Svante and of the U.S. Department of Energy, and a peer-reviewed paper. No product specifications for BASF's MOFs (surface area, pore size, uptake and so on) were found published by BASF, so none are given for BASF products. The paper's values are laboratory or prototype-stage results, not values for BASF's mass-production material Sourced.
| Product, use | What the sources say |
|---|---|
| MOF production (BASF's description) | MOFs are highly crystalline structures with nanometre-sized pores and a large surface area, with high capacity for storing CO₂, for dehumidifying air for room climate control, and for adsorbing the greenhouse gas methane. It says it can make customized MOFs to customers' needs at multiple sites, and claims to be the first company to make MOFs at a production scale of several hundred tonnes a year (October 2023) |
| CALF-20 (for Svante) | A zinc-based MOF. According to Svante, a solid sorbent that can capture up to 95% of the CO₂ from industrial sources such as cement and blue hydrogen plants. BASF scaled it up by converting the laboratory recipe into a safe plant procedure and makes it in Seneca, U.S. Svante says it was scaled from laboratory to industrial scale by a simple low-temperature process following green chemistry principles |
| CALF-20 values in the paper (Science, 2021) | Resistant to water vapour and wet acid gases, with durability to steam of more than 450,000 cycles. It adsorbs CO₂ in preference to water below 40% relative humidity and has a low regeneration energy. It can be made in one step, and its synthesis can be scaled to multikilogram batches (laboratory results, not values for BASF's mass-production material) |
| Recovering water from air (AirJoule) | U.S. Department of Energy announcement: Montana Technologies licensed an invention that the national laboratory PNNL had researched for more than 20 years, and says it has demonstrated MOF scale-up and production at a commercially viable cost under a joint development agreement with BASF. BASF says it uses MOFs in pilot projects for dehumidifying air conditioning |
| MOF class in general (BASF's description) | "An internal surface area of up to 10,000 m²/g" (a description of MOFs as a class, not a value for any BASF product; no measurement method given). They can capture specific molecules selectively and can also act as catalysts |
(1) Metal nodes plus organic linkers: the pores can be designed. A MOF assembles with metal ions as the "cornerstones" and organic molecules as the linking "beams" (the Nobel Foundation's description), so the choice of metal and organic molecule changes pore size and character. This is a big difference from activated carbon and zeolites (our general framing). But with so many designable structures, a material that is excellent in the laboratory is not necessarily one that can be made in a plant and does not break down. Svante and the paper say CALF-20 drew attention because it combined durability, described below, with simple synthesis.
(2) In flue gas, water is the biggest enemy. Exhaust from power plants and cement works contains water vapour, and if water molecules fill a MOF's pores or damage the structure, it stops taking up CO₂. The 2021 paper reports that CALF-20 adsorbs CO₂ in preference to water below 40% relative humidity and withstands steam for more than 450,000 cycles (laboratory test conditions). The paper explains that the binding site at the centre of CALF-20's pores makes it hard for water molecules to form hydrogen-bonded networks, which is why water has less effect.
(3) Regeneration energy sets operating cost. Amine solutions, which bind CO₂ chemically, need a lot of heat to release it. The paper says physisorbing MOFs need less energy to regenerate. Svante says the material suits direct steam stripping, a method its CEO calls a "holy grail" of the field. But BASF's materials give no figures for regeneration energy, CO₂ captured or sorbent lifetime in real units, and data from Svante's installations could not be confirmed in public information either.
(4) Scale-up: turning a laboratory recipe into a safe plant procedure. BASF describes the main scale-up task as converting the laboratory recipe into a safe plant procedure. For MOFs, conditions that go unnoticed in the laboratory, such as solvent, reaction temperature, crystal size, drying and shaping, are generally what decide quality (our general framing, not a description of BASF's individual processes). Powder is also hard to put into equipment as it is, so Svante says it developed a roll-to-roll process that coats the sorbent onto sheets (BASF makes the MOF sorbent itself; the coating is on Svante's side) (inference). For background, see this series' explainer on metal-organic frameworks.
A limit on use. The CALF-20 durability figures are laboratory values from a paper, not specifications of BASF's mass-production material. This article does not rank BASF's MOFs against other MOFs, or against amines, zeolites or activated carbon.
11. Risks
| Risk | Detail | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Demand ramp-up | The main use of MOFs is carbon capture, and unless equipment makers such as Svante roll out their systems, MOF volumes will not grow. Svante says it targets hundreds of large facilities by 2030, but that is Svante's target and unconfirmed | Not yet confirmed |
| Customer concentration | The only customer that can be confirmed by name is mainly Svante. Contract volumes, prices and term are not public, and other customers appear only as the statement that customized MOFs can be made | Sourced / Inference |
| Thin disclosure | MOF sales, capacity and profit are not in the annual report. The business's profitability and investment priority cannot be read from official documents | Sourced / Not yet confirmed |
| Unclear conditions behind claims | "First in the world" and "several hundred tonnes a year" are company statements with no published basis for comparison or definition. The "10,000 m²/g" figure refers to MOFs as a class | Sourced (company statement) |
| Company-wide restructuring and cost cuts | Cost cutting and restructuring are under way across the company (restructuring charges of EUR 937 million in 2025; about 3,600 fewer employees than a year earlier). The effect on the MOF business could not be confirmed | Sourced / Inference |
| Concentrated production | The only production site that can be confirmed is Seneca, U.S. Production at other sites is described only as a capability. The effect of an accident or stoppage at a site cannot be read from official documents | Inference |
| Regulation and safety status | How nanomaterials including MOFs are handled depends on chemical regulations by region and on trends in definitions of nanomaterials. BASF's registration or notification status for its MOFs could not be confirmed from official documents. "Nano" does not make a material safe or unsafe as a general rule (see this series' explainer on definition and regulation of nanomaterials) | Not yet confirmed |
12. Glossary
- Metal-organic framework (MOF)
- A porous crystal assembled from metal ions and organic molecules. Its pores are nanometres across, and it can store gases and water vapour.
- CALF-20
- A zinc-based MOF (Calgary Framework 20) found at the University of Calgary. Developed for CO₂ capture and used by Svante.
- Adsorption (physisorption and chemisorption)
- Gas sticking to a material's surface. Physisorption, by weak forces, is easy to reverse; chemisorption, by chemical bonding, is stronger but needs heat to release.
- Solid sorbent
- A solid material that captures gas on its surface or in its pores. Used in place of liquid amines, it may cut regeneration energy.
- Relative humidity
- The water vapour in air as a percentage of the maximum it can hold at that temperature.
- Scale-up
- Making a material that was produced in the laboratory at plant scale with the same quality.
- Carbon capture and storage (CCS)
- Separating and capturing CO₂ from exhaust gas and the like, and storing it underground.
- Blue hydrogen
- Hydrogen made from natural gas, with the resulting CO₂ captured and stored.
- Pilot project
- A small-scale trial under real conditions before full deployment.
- ADR
- American depositary receipt: a certificate that lets shares of a foreign company be traded on a U.S. market.
- Manufacturer's statement
- An explanation or figure given by the manufacturer itself. It cannot be compared with another product's unless the method and conditions are the same.
13. References
- BASF BASF becomes first company to successfully produce metal-organic frameworks on a commercial scale for carbon capture (BASF announcement, 10 October 2023). Production scale of several hundred tonnes a year, scale-up for Svante, capacity at multiple sites. https://www.basf.com/global/en/media/news-releases/2023/10/p-23-327.html
- BASF Nobel Prize for MOFs: Nanostructures enable large-scale extraction of carbon dioxide from the air (BASF announcement, 3 December 2025). CALF-20 production in Seneca, history of the research, the two focus uses, collaboration with Professor Yaghi. https://www.basf.com/global/en/media/news-releases/2025/12/p-25-239
- BASF BASF Group full-year 2025 results announcement (27 February 2026). Sales of EUR 59.7 billion, EBITDA before special items of EUR 6.6 billion, net income, restructuring charges, 2026 outlook. https://www.basf.com/global/en/media/news-releases/2026/02/p-26-020
- BASF BASF Report 2025: Personnel Expenses and Employees. 108,251 employees on 31 December 2025 (111,822 a year earlier). https://report.basf.com/2025/en/financial-statements/notes/personnel-expenses-and-employees.html
- BASF BASF Report 2025: Segments. The chemical and refining catalysts business has been reported in the Performance Chemicals division of Industrial Solutions since January 2025. https://report.basf.com/2025/en/combined-managements-report/basf-groups-business-year/segments.html
- BASF BASF Report 2025: Industrial Solutions. 2025 sales of EUR 8,594 million; the two divisions that make up the segment. https://report.basf.com/2025/en/combined-managements-report/basf-groups-business-year/segments/industrial-solutions.html
- BASF BASF Report 2025: Innovation. R&D expenses of EUR 1,995 million and about 9,000 R&D employees in 2025. https://report.basf.com/2025/en/combined-managements-report/fundamentals-of-the-group/strategy/innovation.html
- BASF Ludwigshafen (company website, site description). The location of BASF's headquarters. https://www.basf.com/global/en/who-we-are/organization/locations/europe/german-sites/ludwigshafen
- BASF California Research Alliance (CARA) (BASF Romania website). Started in 2014; results as of 2023. https://basf.com/ro/ro/who-we-are/innovation/how-we-innovate/academic-collaborations/CARA.html
- Svante Svante Secures Commercial Supply of MOF Advanced Sorbent Materials with BASF for Carbon Capture Market (Svante announcement, 10 October 2023). Commercial supply agreement, CALF-20, two years of joint scale-up. https://www.svanteinc.com/press-releases/svante-secures-commercial-supply-of-mof-advanced-sorbent-materials-with-basf-for-carbon-capture-market/
- U.S. Department of Energy DOE and Montana Technologies Announce Breakthrough in HVAC and Water Harvesting Technology (9 November 2023). Joint development agreement with BASF, demonstration of MOF production at scale. https://www.energy.gov/technologytransitions/articles/doe-and-montana-technologies-announce-breakthrough-hvac-and-water
- Nobel Foundation The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025 (press release). Award to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi; description of MOFs. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2025/press-release/
- Nobel Foundation The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025 (popular information). Mention of CALF-20. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2025/popular-information/
- Journal paper Lin J.-B. et al., A scalable metal-organic framework as a durable physisorbent for carbon dioxide capture, Science 374, 1464-1469 (2021). DOI checked against Crossref. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abi7281
- Journal paper Li H., Eddaoudi M., O'Keeffe M., Yaghi O. M., Design and synthesis of an exceptionally stable and highly porous metal-organic framework, Nature 402, 276-279 (1999). DOI checked against Crossref. https://doi.org/10.1038/46248
- BASF Company website (source of the logo image). https://www.basf.com/
14. Claim-to-source audit
| Claim in the text | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| BASF's statement that it is the first company to make MOFs at a production scale of several hundred tonnes a year; completion of scale-up for Svante; capacity to make customized MOFs at multiple sites; the description of MOF uses | Sourced (company statement) | Reference 1 https://www.basf.com/global/en/media/news-releases/2023/10/p-23-327.html |
| CALF-20 production at Seneca; use by Svante; BASF's MOF research beginning about 25 years ago; the current focus on water and CO₂ storage; pilot projects for dehumidifying air conditioning; collaboration with Professor Yaghi and co-founding of CARA; "an internal surface area of up to 10,000 m²/g" (MOFs in general) | Sourced (company statement) | Reference 2 https://www.basf.com/global/en/media/news-releases/2025/12/p-25-239 |
| The commercial supply agreement between independent parties with Svante; the statement that CALF-20 captures up to 95% of CO₂; two years of joint scale-up; the simple low-temperature process; roll-to-roll coating; the aim of hundreds of facilities by 2030 | Sourced (company statement) | Reference 10 https://www.svanteinc.com/press-releases/svante-secures-commercial-supply-of-mof-advanced-sorbent-materials-with-basf-for-carbon-capture-market/ |
| The joint development agreement between Montana Technologies (AirJoule) and BASF; demonstration of MOF production at scale and at a commercially viable cost | Sourced (company statement) | Reference 11 https://www.energy.gov/technologytransitions/articles/doe-and-montana-technologies-announce-breakthrough-hvac-and-water |
| The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (Kitagawa, Robson, Yaghi); the description of MOFs (crystals of metal ions and organic molecules); the introduction of CALF-20 (under test in a factory in Canada) | Sourced | References 12 & 13 https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2025/press-release/ https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2025/popular-information/ |
| CALF-20 values from the paper (steam durability above 450,000 cycles, CO₂ selectivity over water below 40% relative humidity, low regeneration energy, synthesis scaled to multikilogram batches, binding site at the pore centre); the 1999 report of MOF-5 | Sourced | References 14 & 15 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abi7281 https://doi.org/10.1038/46248 |
| Company-wide sales of EUR 59.7 billion, EBITDA before special items of EUR 6.6 billion (down EUR 686 million), EBITDA of EUR 5.6 billion, net income of EUR 1.6 billion, restructuring charges of EUR 937 million | Sourced | Reference 3 https://www.basf.com/global/en/media/news-releases/2026/02/p-26-020 |
| Employees of 108,251 (31 December 2025; 111,822 a year earlier) | Sourced | Reference 4 https://report.basf.com/2025/en/financial-statements/notes/personnel-expenses-and-employees.html |
| R&D spending of EUR 1,995 million, about 9,000 R&D employees, Ludwigshafen as the largest R&D site | Sourced | References 7 & 8 https://report.basf.com/2025/en/combined-managements-report/fundamentals-of-the-group/strategy/innovation.html https://www.basf.com/global/en/who-we-are/organization/locations/europe/german-sites/ludwigshafen |
| Where MOFs are reported (the chemical and refining catalysts business in the Performance Chemicals division of Industrial Solutions since January 2025); Industrial Solutions' 2025 sales of EUR 8,594 million | Sourced | References 5 & 6 https://report.basf.com/2025/en/combined-managements-report/basf-groups-business-year/segments.html https://report.basf.com/2025/en/combined-managements-report/basf-groups-business-year/segments/industrial-solutions.html |
| CARA (started 2014; as of 2023, 11 universities, more than 110 projects, 47 patent applications and 93 publications) | Sourced | Reference 9 https://basf.com/ro/ro/who-we-are/innovation/how-we-innovate/academic-collaborations/CARA.html |
| The headquarters location (Ludwigshafen) | Sourced | Reference 8 https://www.basf.com/global/en/who-we-are/organization/locations/europe/german-sites/ludwigshafen |
| The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (BAS) and ADR (BASFY) listings | Sourced (company statement) | Reference 1 https://www.basf.com/global/en/media/news-releases/2023/10/p-23-327.html |
| The logo image is the white corporate logo published in the header of the company website | Sourced | Reference 16 https://www.basf.com/ |
| MOF sales, profit, capacity by site and utilization; the investment at Seneca; Svante contract volumes and prices; MOF products and customers other than CALF-20; BASF's MOF product specifications; further expansion plans; registration status under chemical regulations; public funding for MOFs; the absence of MOFs from the annual report | Not yet confirmed (could not be confirmed) | References 4 & 7 https://report.basf.com/2025/en/financial-statements/notes/personnel-expenses-and-employees.html https://report.basf.com/2025/en/combined-managements-report/fundamentals-of-the-group/strategy/innovation.html |
| Readings that the MOF business is still small within the company, that BASF will use the Nobel Prize to win customers and partners, and that it is built as a contract-style business; the organization of MOF scale-up difficulty | Inference | References 1 & 2 & 7 https://www.basf.com/global/en/media/news-releases/2023/10/p-23-327.html https://www.basf.com/global/en/media/news-releases/2025/12/p-25-239 https://report.basf.com/2025/en/combined-managements-report/fundamentals-of-the-group/strategy/innovation.html |
| Classifying BASF as a nanomaterial producer, and the four-type framework | Our calculation | Our own organization and calculation (technical explanations are general commentary, not values for the company's individual products; see the series' explainers) |
| Technical explanations of MOF pores, water resistance, regeneration energy and scale-up (general commentary) | Our calculation | Our own organization and calculation (technical explanations are general commentary, not values for the company's individual products; see the series' explainers) |
Last updated: 9 October 2026 / Troy Technical
This article is based on BASF's official announcements and annual report (BASF Report 2025), the announcement of its customer Svante, a U.S. Department of Energy announcement, Nobel Foundation public materials and peer-reviewed papers. It uses no market-research estimates or press-based figures. Items marked "Inference" are our reading of the primary sources and are not company disclosures. Product features are the company's own statements, and BASF has not published product specifications for its MOFs. Company plans and targets are not yet confirmed and are no guarantee of outcomes. This article does not advise individual readers on handling or safety of materials, or on investment.