The system offers an economical way to source essential battery material

07-Jun-2021

Lithium is a vital element in the batteries that power electric vehicles, but soaring lithium demand is expected to exhaust land-based reserves by 2080. KAUST researchers have now developed an economically viable system that can extract high-purity lithium from seawater. The oceans contain about ...

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An enigmatic bacterium proves a useful ally for the synthesis of single-atom catalysts to split hydrogen from water

02-Jun-2021

Exploiting the unusual metal-reducing ability of the iron-breathing bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens, KAUST researchers have demonstrated a cheap and reliable way to synthesize highly active single-atom catalysts. The innovation, which could dramatically improve the efficiency and cost of ...

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"Our discovery is not about identifying a new or better catalyst for a known reaction, but about opening a new field for unlimited new opportunities in the future"

05-May-2021

Aromaticity, a concept usually used to explain the striking stability and unusual reactivity of certain carbon-based molecules, could inspire the design of new catalysts with novel uses, KAUST researchers have shown. Chemists first came upon the anomalous behavior of aromatic molecules in the ...

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A diverse category of porous materials can separate and purify key industrial chemicals at low temperatures

11-Mar-2021

Gas and liquid separation processes in the chemical industry could be made more efficient and environmentally friendly by using substances known as intrinsically porous materials (IPMs). KAUST researchers review the prospects for IPMs in the journal Accounts of Chemical Research. Niveen Khashab ...

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Catalyst nanoparticles trap an unprecedented range of wavelengths of light to convert carbon dioxide into methane.

05-Mar-2021

Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is a major driver of global warming, but this gas could also serve as a valuable resource. Researchers at KAUST have developed an efficient catalyst that uses light energy to convert CO2 and hydrogen into methane (CH4). This counteracts the release of CO2 when ...

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Combining solar-harvesting materials with carbon-dioxide–consuming microbes could be an efficient way to generate clean fuels

07-Oct-2020

Semiconductive photocatalysts that efficiently absorb solar energy could help reduce the energy required to drive a bioelectrochemical process that converts CO2 emissions into valuable chemicals, KAUST researchers have shown. Recycling CO2 could simultaneously reduce carbon emissions into the ...

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Machine learning models can rapidly and accurately estimate key chemical parameters related to molecular reactivity

27-Aug-2020

Creating computers that can teach themselves how chemical structure dictates the fundamental properties of molecules and then using that knowledge to predict the properties of novel molecules could help to design cleaner energy and industrial systems. KAUST researchers have developed a machine ...

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Highly modular metal-organic framework-based materials show great potential for photocatalytic hydrogen production

24-Jun-2020

A metal organic framework (MOF)-based water splitting photocatalyst, developed at KAUST, has brought researchers a step closer to generating clean hydrogen fuel using sunlight. "Using solar energy to efficiently make green fuels is the ultimate goal for many catalysis researchers," says Jorge ...

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A water-stable dopant enhances and stabilizes the performance of electron-transporting organic electrochemical transistors

18-Jun-2020

Doping is commonly used to improve performance in semiconducting devices but has not previously been successful for electron transporting or n-type, organic electronic materials. Now, an approach developed by KAUST uses a dopant, an additive that boosts the electronic performance and water ...

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01-Apr-2020

An industrial process that currently consumes vast amounts of energy in petrochemical plants around the globe could be replaced by an alternative process so efficient that it requires no heating or elevated pressure. Niveen Khashab from KAUST's Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Center and ...

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