6
February - March 2014
Research
The Beacon
Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Team Synthesizes Highly Mesoporous Zeolites KAUST postdoctoral fellow Dr. Yihan Zhu and Associate Professor of Chemical Science Yu Han from the Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Research Center and a team of researchers from other international universities recently published a paper in the Journal of the American Chemical Society examining the synthesis of mesoporous aluminosilicate zeolite Beta from a commercial cationic polymer
KAUST postdoctoral fellow Yihan Zhu works in the lab to examine the properties of the research team’s synthesized highly mesoporous zeolite.
(http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja411117y). Zeolites are microporous crystalline solids that contain silicon, aluminum, and oxygen in their framework structure. Within their pores, they contain cations, water, and other molecules. Some zeolites are synthetic, and others occur naturally as minerals. Because of their porous nature, they have many different uses in industry, and are widely used for various applications. “Zeolites have special size and shape selectivity, but their small pore size of less than 1 nanometer
work is “the first demonstration of a single non-surfactant polymer acting as such a template,” he says.
restricts their catalytic application to the conversion of small molecules, and also diminishes their long-
The mesoporous zeolite produced by the team’s work has a large pore volume and higher catalytic
term catalytic activity,” says Dr. Zhu. “Integrating mesopores with a diameter of 2-50 nanometers into
activities than conventional bulk zeolite in several model reactions they examined. “More interestingly,”
microporous zeolites would circumvent the limitations imposed by their small pore sizes, and would make
says Dr. Zhu, “despite being highly mesoporous, the material is single crystalline, which in turn brings
them applicable to catalysis involving large molecules. Mesopores would also allow for the support of
excellent hydrothermal stability that is an important criterion for catalysts with potential uses in
additional catalytic active sites to produce multi-functional catalysts.”
petrochemical applications.”
However, Dr. Zhu notes, it has proven challenging to synthesize highly mesoporous zeolites. In their
The team’s work shows that high-quality mesoporous zeolites can be easily synthesized from low-
paper, he and the research team developed an efficient synthetic process to fabricate a mesoporous zeolite.
cost processes, which will enable their large-scale production. “By a proper design of the synthesis, it is
Additionally, they characterized its microscopic structure and evaluated its catalytic performance for
possible to integrate micropores and mesopores into one material in the form of a single crystal,” notes
several different reactions.
Dr. Zhu. “Using a non-surfactant polymer as a dual-function template is essential to producing such a
“The novelty of our method lies in the use of a cationic polymer that acts as a dual-function template to generate zeolitic micropores and mesopores simultaneously,” explains Dr. Zhu. His and the team’s
material. We also hope our study shows that advanced electron microscopy techniques are powerful for characterizing complicated 3D structures at the scale of the nanometer and below,” he adds.
Accolade Prof. Hadjichristidis named POLY Fellow Prof. NikTos Hadjichristidis was recently selected as a
2014 awardees will be honored during a ceremony at the
Japan (2007), the ACS PMSE Cooperative Research
2014 POLY Fellow. This award was established in 2009 by
Spring ACS Meeting in Texas, US.
Award (2010), and the Chemistry of Thermoplastic
the Polymer Chemistry Division of the American Chemical
Prof. Hadjichristidis, Professor of Chemical Science
Elastomers Award of ACS, Rubber Division, US (2011).
Society (ACS) and recognizes excellence in advancing
in the KAUST Catalysis Center, has previously been
He was elected as a PMSE Fellow for 2004 and was the
the field of polymer science, either through scientific
awarded the ACS PMSE A. K. Doolittle Award (2003), the
“Ralph Milkovich” Memorial Lecturer for 2006 at the
accomplishments, service to the profession, or both. The
International Award of the Society of Polymer Science,
University of Akron.
Hamidou Tembine Receives IEEE ComSoc EMEA Regional Young Researcher of the Year Award Dr. Hamidou Tembine, KAUST Senior Research Scientist
through ComSoc publication and conference activities
games, mean field stochastic games, distributed strategic
from the SRI Center for Uncertainty Quantification, won
over the past three years.
learning, and the applications of these areas. He has
the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Dr. Tembine graduated with highest honors in Applied
received five best paper awards for his research in the
Communications Society (ComSoc) Europe, Middle East,
Mathematics from École Polytechnique (Palaiseau,
applications of game theory, and has published over 130
and Africa region (EMEA) Young Researcher of the Year
France) in 2006 and received his PhD degree with highest
journal and conference papers.
award for his innovative research activities.
honors in Computer Science from the French Institute
“I am extremely honored to receive this award,
The IEEE Young Researcher of the Year Award is
for Research in Computer Science and Automation
and the credit also goes to all those on our research
sponsored by the IEEE EMEA region. The award honors
(INRIA) and the University of Avignon (France) in 2009.
team, including our collaborators and co-authors,”
researchers under 35 who have been active in the IEEE
Dr. Tembine’s main research interests are evolutionary
said Dr. Tembine.
Prof. Peter Markowich Awarded Medal by Paris Foundation of Mathematics The Paris Foundation of Mathematics recently honored KAUST Professor of Applied
my research area. I’ve been working with French mathematicians
Mathematics Peter A. Markowich, with the presentation of a medal in recognition of
throughout my career from very early on. My top ten papers
his life’s work. The event, held on January 24 in Paris, also marked the closure of Prof.
were probably joint with Paris-area mathematicians,” Prof.
Markowich’s top-level designation as Chair of the institution.
Markowich further details.
The task of the foundation is to interlink Paris mathematicians with the rest of
The event took the form of a workshop featuring five
the world. “Paris is one of the international top centers of mathematics,” said Prof.
lecturers (including one from KAUST, Dr. Marie-Therese
Markowich. “Probably no other place in the world has the same combination of
Wolfram) and focusing on partial differential equations
high density and high quality of mathematics going on as in Paris” . The award also
in the social sciences. As Prof. Markowich explained,
recognizes Prof. Markowich’s contribution and long-established collaborations with
specific applications in the social sciences include
French and Parisian mathematics in particular.
human crowd motion modeling and control, which
“If I count my collaborators and divide them by geography, certainly the Paris area
is of particular interest to Saudi Arabia in relation to
would take probably 50% of my in international collaborations. It’s an incredible
the large number of pilgrims visiting Makkah and the
center of mathematics and particularly of partial differential equations, which is
confined spaces there.