MOF-303 (Al): The Water-Harvesting MOF Field-Tested in Death Valley, Now Manufactured in Indonesia

In Death Valley National Park, one of the hottest and driest places on Earth, a device loaded with MOF-303 harvested 210 grams of water per kilogram of MOF each day, powered by nothing but sunlight, with no electricity or external cooling. In the Mojave Desert, where relative humidity can drop as low as 10%, a different version of the device recorded up to 1.3 liters of water per kilogram of MOF per day. MOF-303 (Al) is the material behind that achievement: an aluminum-based metal-organic framework developed by Omar Yaghi's team at UC Berkeley, specifically designed to absorb water vapor from air at low humidity and release it back as liquid water with only mild heating.

Research labs in Indonesia have typically had to import water-harvesting MOFs with fast, consistent adsorption-desorption kinetics. Real-world performance depends heavily on how sharp and consistent the water uptake characteristics are, not just on the chemical formula on paper. That's starting to change.

ITNANO (CV. Inovasi Teknologi Nano), based at the NRE Lab in Medan, is Indonesia's first private nanomaterials research startup manufacturing MOF-303 (Al) locally. Here's what MOF-303 actually is, why its crystal quality matters, and where it's being used in research and industry today.

What Is MOF-303 (Al)?

MOF-303 is built from aluminum ions linked by 1H-pyrazole-3,5-dicarboxylate (PZDC) ligands, forming a porous framework that remains stable under repeated water exposure, a property that's actually rare among most other MOFs, which tend to degrade structurally with prolonged water contact. What makes MOF-303 special for water harvesting is the shape of its water sorption isotherm: it absorbs almost no water at very low humidity, then jumps sharply once it passes an inflection point at around 12% RH, reaching an uptake capacity of up to 39 weight percent at 20% RH.

Crystal quality is the biggest factor in MOF-303's performance, because the sharpness of that water-uptake step, along with the speed of adsorption-desorption cycles that can complete in just minutes, depends heavily on how completely the pore framework forms during synthesis. Unevenly grown crystals broaden the humidity range over which water starts to be absorbed, reducing overall water-harvesting efficiency even though the powder may still look like the same white material on the outside. ITNANO's MOF-303 is manufactured with consistent crystal quality control on every batch, taking the form of a white powder.

Where MOF-303 (Al) Is Being Used

Atmospheric water harvesting

This is MOF-303's most famous application, and the main reason it was chosen over earlier-generation zirconium-based water-harvesting MOFs: its raw material costs far less, around $3 per kilogram compared to $160 per kilogram for zirconium, while delivering even better performance. Field tests in Death Valley and the Mojave Desert proved MOF-303 can operate entirely passively, relying only on sunlight, making it a strong candidate for clean drinking water technology in water-stressed regions.

Humidity control

MOF-303's high water vapor adsorption capacity and stability under repeated water exposure make it relevant for humidity control applications, such as storage systems sensitive to ambient moisture levels.

Water purification

Beyond atmospheric water harvesting, MOF-303's pore structure is also being researched for water purification applications, drawing on its ability to absorb and release water in a controlled way without damaging its own structure.

Gas storage and separation

Like other porous MOFs, MOF-303 can also be used for gas storage and separation, alongside a range of other research applications that require a high-performance adsorbent material.

Why Source MOF-303 Locally

The sharpness of MOF-303's water-uptake inflection point and the speed of its adsorption-desorption cycles are properties directly shaped by synthesis quality and storage conditions before use. A batch with uneven crystals produces a flatter water-uptake curve, reducing water-harvesting efficiency per cycle even though the chemical composition stays the same. ITNANO, established by the Titian Research Group's NRE Lab, manufactures MOF-303 domestically with consistent crystal quality control on every batch, giving labs in Indonesia a water-harvesting material whose performance can be relied on from the moment it arrives.

Whether you're developing atmospheric water harvesting technology, researching humidity control, formulating water purification systems, or working on gas storage and separation applications, MOF-303 gives you a crystal quality and water-uptake kinetics that a distant supplier can't guarantee after shipping, without the import wait.

See ITNANO's MOF product line for current specifications and pricing.

Get Research-Grade MOF-303 (Al) Today

Whether you're working on atmospheric water harvesting, humidity control, water purification, or gas storage and separation research, ITNANO gives you direct access to locally manufactured, research-grade MOF-303 (Al).

📦 View product specifications at itnano.store

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ITNANO is a product line by NRE Lab (CV. Inovasi Teknologi Nano), based in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, advancing local access to graphene, 2D materials, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), and other advanced nanomaterials for research and industry.