Mohamed Eddaoudi, distinguished professor of chemical science
Mohamed Eddaoudi is a professor of chemical science and the director of the Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Center at KAUST. His research activities are aimed at developing strategies for the design and synthesis of functional solid-state materials from molecular building blocks and advancing the understanding of the structure-property relationship of materials and their deployment for key applications.
Recent advances in the design and synthesis of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have the potential to address challenges pertaining to energy and environmental sustainability. Eddaoudi’s work targets new and diverse applications for MOFs, including reducing the energy required to separate valuable commodities, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, storing hydrogen, and harvesting water in arid regions.
One of the most exciting breakthroughs to emerge from Eddaoudi’s research is the development of KAUST-7, a porous MOF material that is highly effective at capturing carbon dioxide. Ongoing collaboration with oil company Saudi Aramco suggests this material could have commercial applications in the battle against rising emissions levels.
Despite the urgency of the climate change challenge, Eddaoudi is excited by the circular carbon economy approach, which could reduce the environmental impact of fossil fuels. His research exploring how MOFs can make these fuels cleaner is extremely timely – not just for Saudi Arabia but for the entire planet.
When not watching his favourite football team, FC Barcelona, Eddaoudi is never far from the coast. He grew up less than five minutes from the beach in Morocco, and the fact that KAUST is situated so close to the Red Sea remains very important to him.
Find out more about Mohamed Eddaoudi's research at KAUST.
