Professor Mohamed Eddaoudi from KAUST University will be giving a talk entitled “MOF Design to Applications: Impact of Pore System Control on Gas Separations and Storage”.
Abstract: Demand for functional materials targeted for specific applications is ever increasing as societal needs and demands mount with advancing technology. The building-block approach, whereby at the design stage the desired properties and functionality can be introduced in preselected molecular building blocks (MBBs) prior to the assembly process, has emerged as a prominent pathway for the rational construction of functional solid- state materials. One class of inorganic-organic hybrid materials, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), has burgeoned in recent partly years due to effective design strategies (i.e. reticular chemistry) for their synthesis and their inherent [and readily interchangeable] hybrid, functional character. Various key gas/vapors separations are accomplished using energy intensive processes as exemplified by the olefin/paraffin separation, an essential separation in chemical industry. Here we present our progress in the development of functional metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) to address some energy-intensive separations. Successful practice of reticular chemistry had afforded the fabrication of chemically stable fluorinated MOF adsorbent materials (NbOFFIVE-1-Ni, also referred to as KAUST-7 and AlFFIVE-1-Ni, also referred to as KAUST-8). The restricted MOF window resulted in the selective molecular exclusion of propane from propylene at atmospheric pressure, as evidenced by multiple cyclic mixed-gas adsorption and calorimetric studies. Remarkably, KAUST-7 maintains its distinctive separation properties in the presence of water as a result of its high chemical and hydrolytic stability. The development of suitable storage and refining processes makes natural gas an excellent alternative fuel, but before its transport and use, natural gas must first be dehydrated. Conventional dehydration agents are energy intensive. KAUST-8 selectively removes water and requires just 105°C for regeneration of the dehydrating agent. The deliberate control of the pore aperture-size of various selected MOFs and its impact on various separations will be discussed.
Bio: Prof. Mohamed Eddaoudi is a Distinguished Professor of Chemical Science, and Director of the Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Center at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Dr. Eddaoudi received his master’s and doctorate in Chemistry from Denis Diderot University (Paris VII) in Paris, France.Dr. Eddaoudi is a member of the American Chemical Society. He received the Outstanding Faculty Research Achievement Award (2004 and 2007) and the Chemistry Outstanding Teaching Award (2005 and 2008) from the University of South Florida. He was awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation Career Award in 2006. Dr. Eddaoudi has given more than 150 invited talks at conferences and universities since 2002. Dr. Eddaoudi was selected in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 as Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers and world’s most influenced scientific minds (2014). His contribution to the field of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has been highly visible in peer-reviewed journals, as evidenced through his recognition by ISI in 2007 as one of the top 100 most cited chemists of the past 10 years (ranked #68), http://in-cites.com/nobel/2007-che-top100.html.
Research Interests:
- Develop new strategies for the rational design and construction of functional solid state materials.
- Design and synthesis of functional porous solids for Energy and Environmental Sustainability: including coordination polymers, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), porous organic polymers (POPs) for Hydrogen storage, Methane storage, gas separations, CO2 capture & storage.
- Metal-Organic Materials based Sorbents and Membranes addressing the energy-intensive gas separations.
Join us for the drinks reception at 15.30 in the ACEX foyer, followed by the Distinguished Seminar at 16.00!