News

Prof. Yaghi is quoted as saying:

“The history of science innovations taught us that [the] mixing of researchers from various sectors of the global society regardless of their gender, ethnicity, country of origin, race and religion is the most powerful way for different peoples to find common grounds to solve problems together,” argues Omar Yaghi, director of the University of California, Berkeley’s Global Science Institute, which has set up mentoring schemes for young scientists in Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Vietnam."

A new research publication authored by KFUPM Research Scientist, Dr. Bassem A. Al-Maythalony, is out in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. This work detailed the interplay between structure and resulting gas separation properties of ZIF-based mixed matrix membranes. Dr. Bassem successfully collaborated with colleagues throughout KFUPM, which truly makes this report a team discovery. Congratulations to the KFUPM team!

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A new research publication co-authored by KFUPM Research Scientist, Dr. Aasif Helal, is out in Journal of Materials Chemistry A. This work detailed the design of a MOF-templated synthesis of Mo2C embeded within mesoporous carbon for electrocatalytic water splitting. Congratulations to the KFUPM team!

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It was just announced that Prof. Yaghi was awarded the prestigious TÜBA 2016 Academy Prize in the category of Basic and Engineering Sciences in recognition of his work on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). 

Berkeley Global Science Institute's Prof. Omar M. Yaghi and Kyle E. Cordova are visiting the KFUPM team as a part of the ongoing efforts to perform innovative, high impact research, expand the research team, and provide scientific mentoring and guidance. Kyle will stay with the KFUPM for an extended period of time until 2017 in order to engage the research team at KFUPM in instrument-specific training, project development, and manuscript preparation. 

A Berkeley Global Science Institute (BGSI) delegation, led by Prof. Omar M. Yaghi and Associate Director Kyle E. Cordova, visited the Royal Scientific Society (RSS) in Amman, Jordan in order to sign an agreement to enhance and develop extensive research collaborations in Jordan. With this agreement, cooperative scientific research programs, faculty and scholar exchanges, and research capacity building will take place.

A new research publication led by KFUPM Ph.D. student, Najam U. Qadir, along with Professors Rached B. Mansour and Syed A. M. Said is out in Dalton Transactions. This work detailed the design and synthesis of a new carbon nanotube/MOF composite for adsorption-driven heating/chilling applications. Congratulations to the KFUPM team!

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Kyle E. Cordova visited Felipe Gandara, Enrique Guiterrez-Puebla, and Angeles Monge at the Material Science Institute of Madrid (ICMM-CSIC) to discuss global science, relevant research activities, and establish future partnerships. ICMM-CSIC has an ongoing project with the Center for Molecular and NanoArchitecture (MANAR) to host visiting scholars and train them in advanced crystallographic techniques.

A research program, designed in conjunction with KACST, to develop a new way to visualize and understand the three dimensional structures of difficult to crystalize molecules has recently found success. This resulted in a research paper in Science, entitled "Coordinative Alignment of Molecules in Chiral Metal-Organic Frameworks". Congratulations to the authors!

Publication Details (see joint publications tab for access to a pdf of the paper):

High Methanol Uptake Capacity in Two New Series of Metal-Organic Frameworks: Promising Materials for Adsorption-Driven Heat Pump Applications

A research program, designed in conjunction with KACST, to improve methane storage working capacity in MOFs recently found success. This resulted in a research paper in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, entitled "High Methane Storage Working Capacity in Metal-Organic Frameworks with Acrylate Links". Congratulations to the authors!

Publication Details (see joint publications tab for access to a pdf of the paper):

As part of an official visit to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory this past week, Saudi Arabian Minister of Energy, Industry, and Mineral Resources Khalid A. Al-Falih (pictured center below) met with the co-directors of the KACST-UC Berkeley Center of Excellence of Nanomaterials for Clean Energy Applications (CENCEA), Prof. Omar M. Yaghi (UC Berkeley) and Dr. Ahmad Alshammari (KACST). Other Saudi researchers, Drs. Nawal Al Abass and Abdullah Abbas (Prof. Paul Alivisatos Group) joined as well.