About
The KAUST-Cornell Center for Energy and Sustainability was created in 2008 through a generous five-year research award from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). KAUST-CU is one of four research centers world-wide funded by KAUST through its Global Research Partnership. KAUST-CU supports research at six partner institutions (University of Cambridge, Columbia University, Princeton University, University of Houston, University of California Los Angeles, and Yale University) and collaborates with researchers at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and Stanford University.
Research in KAUST-CU focuses on a novel class of hybrid nanomaterials recently discovered at Cornell. Termed nanoparticle ionic materials (NIMs), these organic-inorganic hybrids offer exciting opportunities for basic research and technological innovations at the forefront of materials science and engineering. The KAUST-Cornell Center for Energy and Sustainability studies NIMs as tunable platforms for carbon-dioxide capture and sequestration, photovoltaics and energy storage systems, water desalination membranes, and enhanced oil and natural gas production. Lynden A. Archer, the M.L. Hart Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Emmanuel P. Giannelis, Cornell's Walter R. Read Professor of Engineering and chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, serve as co-Directors for KAUST-CU.
Our collaborative research plan calls for fundamental studies on synthesis and characterization of NIMs, and development of computer simulation and theoretical tools for understanding interactions and properties of nanoscale hybrids. KAUST-CU also supports systems engineering and process evaluation studies designed to ensure that potential applications of materials developed in the center are economically viable.
The core educational mission of the KAUST-CU is to prepare interdisciplinary, team-based researchers to assume leadership roles in the United States, Saudi Arabia, and throughout the world.
A dynamic student and visiting scholar exchange program will link the Cornell and KAUST campuses. The two institutions will use these links to share best practices for graduate student recruitment, incubating new research programs, new curriculum development, and for planning appropriate laboratory build-outs. Both institutions share a strong commitment to develop new models for enhancing innovation and fostering a culture for entrepreneurship at major research universities.
NIMs-based Solutions for Energy and Sustainability
In recent years, "storm clouds" have been forming in areas of energy, environment, and climate change that demand concerted action by scientists, engineers, and policy makers.
- Growing evidence that human activities are increasing greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere
- Disappearance of polar ice faster than predicted by climate models
- Prices for oil and gas reached all time highs in 2008
- Global energy demand is projected to double by 2050
- General impairment of natural systems and reduced biodiversity
- Decreasing access to safe drinking water
The nanoscale hybrid materials that form the cornerstone of KAUST-CU's activities, provide unusual technological opportunities for addressing emerging challenges in four specific areas.
Photovoltaics and energy storage systems: Despite intense research efforts by individual investigators and scientific teams world-wide, nanostructured materials for solar energy capture and storage that can achieve competitive efficiencies have not yet been demonstrated. Inorganic solar cells offer high efficiencies, but at a high fabrication cost, while organic solar cells can be produced at a lower cost, but generally yield lower efficiencies. Composites of inorganic semiconductor nanoparticles and conjugated polymers are being developed by KAUST-CU to improve the efficiency vs. cost trade-off in solar cells and rechargeable batteries.
Desalination and advanced water purification: It is now widely accepted that water scarcity and the lack of safe drinking water are among the most serious challenges of the twenty-first century. As a consequence, world leaders and global humanitarian organizations have formally identified access to water as a basic human right. Research in KAUST-CU focuses on novel nanocomposite materials and their applications as membranes for advanced water purification by forward and reverse osmosis.
Nanomaterials for oil and gas exploration and production: KAUST-CU is developing a suite of stimuli-responsive, nanoscale materials for mapping and managing subsurface fluid flows in oil and gas reservoirs. Potential benefits of our materials include lower cost and increased supply of fossil fuels, while minimizing ecological impact.
Carbon dioxide capture and advanced sequestration technologies: Carbon sequestration generally involves three steps — capture, transportation, and disposal. Carbon dioxide capture is generally the most expensive of the three. Research underway in KAUST-CU focuses on designing a nanoscale hybrid materials technology that facilitates enhanced high-temperature carbon dioxide capture and catalytic sequestration in a single materials platform.
