An electrode made from inexpensive earth-abundant metals bubbles with potential for green fuel production

14-Mar-2022

A metal foam could underpin a low-cost method for generating carbon-free fuels, researchers from KAUST have shown. The team seamlessly coated the foam with iron and cobalt nanomaterials to create a highly active electrode for a device that splits water molecules to release oxygen and hydrogen, a ...

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Waste materials are used to create an environmentally friendly filtration system for industrial applications.

31-Jan-2022

Shrimp shells, plant extracts and recycled plastic have helped KAUST researchers to build a sustainable thin-film composite membrane that could replace conventional membranes whose environmental toll is greater. Thin-film composite membranes are widely used in applications such as wastewater ...

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Dangerous and environmentally harmful organic micropollutants can be successfully removed from wastewater using high-intensity pulses of light

12-Jan-2022

Carbon-based organic micropollutants in water can be removed by treatment with high-intensity pulses of light in a procedure developed and demonstrated by researchers at KAUST. This photodegradation process was already known to be feasible, but its use was limited by the long treatment times it ...

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Efficient catalyst for the light-driven methanation of CO2

19-Nov-2021

Recycling carbon dioxide (CO2), especially through conversion to methane (CH4), is compelling while anthropogenic CO2 emissions are still rising. A useful process for this transformation is photothermal methanation, in which CO2 and hydrogen are catalytically converted into CH4 and water upon ...

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The conversion of captured CO2 into fuels and other valuable hydrocarbons could enable a sustainable nonfossil-fuel-based economy

16-Nov-2021

Multifunctional catalysts that transform captured carbon dioxide (CO2) into fuels and other valuable petrochemicals have been developed at KAUST and are set to enable a sustainable greener economy independent of conventional fossil fuels. The catalysts could help reverse the ever-increasing ...

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Metal organic framework membranes that selectively separate hydrocarbons set the stage for more sustainable petrochemical processes

24-Sep-2021

An electrochemical approach developed at KAUST produces molecular-sieving membranes that could enable a cheap energy-efficient separation of light hydrocarbons, such as olefins and paraffins. This separation, critical for the petrochemical industry, usually relies on extremely energy-intensive ...

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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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