IIN Frontiers in Nanotechnology Seminar Series – Mohamed Eddaoudi

Abstract

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have burgeoned in recent years due to effective design strategies for their synthesis and their inherent (and readily interchangeable) hybrid, functional character. Markedly, MOFs are amenable to design and manipulation for desired function and application. Several design strategies have been utilized and developed to target viable MOF platforms based on edge transitive nets, minimal edge transitive nets, and the Eddaoudi Group’s recently-introduced merged nets: molecular building block (MBB), hierarchical supermolecular building block, and supermolecular building layer approaches (SBB and SBL, respectively). Various key gas/vapor separations are accomplished using energy intensive processes as exemplified by the olefin/paraffin separation, an essential separation in chemical industry. In this talk, Eddaoudi will present the group’s progress in the development of functional MOFs to address some energy-intensive separations. Successful practice of reticular chemistry afforded the fabrication of various chemically stable fluorinated MOF adsorbent materials (NbOFFIVE-1-Ni, a.k.a. KAUST-7 and AlFFIVE-1-Ni, a.k.a. 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.

Biosketch

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) in Saudi Arabia. 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 and was awarded the National Science Foundation Career Award in 2006. 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. Since 2002, Dr. Eddaoudi has given more than 150 invited talks at conferences and universities around the world. In 2014 through 2018, he was named a Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher, and in 2014, to the list of World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds. 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).