Speaker: Rawan Al Natour, Chemistry Ph.D. candidate supervised by Prof. Mohamed Eddaoudi

Abstract

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), resulting from the assembly of organic and inorganic molecular building blocks (MBBs), are a unique class of periodic, crystalline materials that have been proven promising in gas separation applications. Particularly, pillar-layered MOFs, combining two organic MBBs of different nature (shape, length, connectivity, functionality, etc.) in distinct crystallographic positions, have demonstrated a great potential in gas separation. Herein, a series of Zr-MOFs, where hxl supermolecular building layers (SBLs) are pillared by ditopic linkers of various lengths and bending angles were designed and successfully synthesized, yielding MOFs with fcu and hex topologies. The synthesized MOFs exhibit the ordered binding of linkers, with 9,10-anthracene dicarboxylate linkers occupying the hxl SBL. Preliminary DFT calculations revealed that the dynamic nature of the bulky anthracene groups within the hxl SBLs play an important role in the potential separation of n-butane/isobutane. Additionally, gaining control on the crystals’ morphology is expected to enable, thanks to the various range of pillars defining both the stacking mode of the SBLs, and the interlayer distance, fine-tuned separation properties and kinetics in mixed-matrix membranes.

Biography

Rawan Al Natour is a PhD candidate in Chemistry under the supervision of Professor Mohamed Eddaoudi. She received her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Chemistry from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the American University of Beirut in 2020. Her Ph.D. research work is mainly focused on the design and synthesis of novel Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and their applications in gas separation and storage.

Speaker: Salma Benzaria, Chemistry Ph.D. candidate supervised by Prof. Mohamed Eddaoudi

Tailoring Gas Storage Properties in Porous Materials through Phase Diversity

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in reticular chemistry, which involves the design and synthesis of porous materials with well-defined structures and properties. In this study, we report a phenomenon where polymorph Metal-Organic Frameworks, despite having the same cluster, organic linker, topology, and symmetry, can significantly impact gas storage properties. To investigate this phenomenon, we explored the pbz-MOFs platform and synthesized a series of isoreticular polymorph pbz-MOFs. By performing DFT calculations of phase energy, we were able to predict the synthesis of different polymorphisms. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we evaluated the methane storage performance of these materials and identified one of the pbz-MOFs with excellent performance in gas storage. Our findings have important implications for the design and synthesis of porous materials with tailored properties for various applications.

Bio

Salma is currently a third-year Ph.D. candidate at KAUST AMPM Center, where she is working under the supervision of prof. Mohamed Eddaoudi. In 2020, she completed her Master’s degree in Chemistry & Material Sciences from the University of Montpellier in France.

Her ongoing doctoral research is centered on the synthesis and study of novel Metal-Organic Frameworks, with a specific focus on their potential applications in energy and environmental contexts.

Speaker: Artem Russkikh, Chemistry Ph.D. candidate supervised by Prof. Martin J. Heeney

Abstract

Synthesis and study of highly efficient and scalable donor polymers based on benzothiadiazole for organic solar cell production.

Solar cells enable the conversion of light into electricity. Their commercialization holds the potential to significantly reduce CO2 emissions associated with fossil fuel utilization and decrease reliance on their unstable supply. Organic solar cells offer several advantages due to their lightweight properties, high flexibility, and potential for low-cost and high-throughput fabrication. They are typically composed of electron-donating and electron-accepting semiconducting polymers that form a bulk heterojunction morphology. Acceptor materials have undergone considerable development, and recent advancements in donor materials have contributed to achieving power conversion efficiencies of up to 19% in organic solar cells.

However, high-performing donor materials, like PM6, require many synthetic steps that limit scalability. The development of highly efficient donor materials with a small number of synthetic steps is crucial for potential commercialization. The utilization of the electron-deficient unit, benzothiadiazole, in donor polymer synthesis has shown promise in creating efficient donor polymers with fewer synthetic steps and lower costs.

Based on these ideas, this study has two main research goals. Firstly, to investigate the impact of the molecular weight of the donor polymer, synthesized via conventional Stille coupling reactions, on the efficiency of the organic solar cell. Second, to address the fact that Stille coupling reactions involve highly toxic tin-based monomers by delving into alternative approaches for synthesizing highly efficient donor polymers. Specifically, it explores direct arylation polymerization reactions as a safer and more sustainable alternative to the conventional, toxic tin-based Stille coupling reactions.

Biography

Artem earned his Bachelors Degree in Chemistry from Novosibirsk State University in Russia in 2016, and completed his Masters Degree in Chemistry at the same institution in 2018. Following this, he joined KAUST as a Ph.D. student in Chemistry in 2018, where he is pursuing his doctoral studies under the guidance of Professor Martin Heeney in the Organic Materials Group.