INSIDE: News 2 New Faculty 5 Community 8 Research 1, 3-4, 6-7 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology at Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia www.kaust.edu.sa B EACON the نـار ا ةApril 2013 / Jumada Al-Thani 1434 Volume 3, Issue No. 8 RESEARCHERS from the Materials Science and Engineering pro- gram have conducted breakthrough research on organic solar cells, detailing the formation of the photoactive layer, a nanoscale blend of electron donating and accepting materials, during the process of spin coating. The results address a long debated question in the field and will help produce efficient solar cells using roll-to-roll printing techniques. These findings by Assistant Professor Aram Amassian, head of the Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics group, and post- doctoral researcher Dr. Kang Wei Chou, are being published this month and featured on the front cover of the high-impact journal Advanced Materials. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ adma.201370082/abstract) The research highlights a world-first, high-speed synchrotron X-ray scattering and optical measurements during the drying of a solu- tion on a rapidly rotating substrate. While current understanding of organic solar cells is provided mainly by post-deposition meas- urements, KAUST scientists have overcome key technical hurdles allowing them to provide new insights on the kinetics and sequence of crystallization and phase separation as the solar ink spreads and dries on the spinning disk to form the photoactive layer of a solar cell. Spin-coating may represent an effective way of coating uniform and fast-drying layers, but its usage is exclusively limited to lab- oratory settings, the reason being that spin-coating it not scalable up to manufacturing line standards. Essentially, this method per- forms extremely well at the laboratory level and produced most of the record-setting solar cells reported in recent years, but it has some major flaws. Enumerating some reasons for this limitation, Prof. Amassian explained, “Spin-coating ejects 99% of the deposited solution (ink) from the surface to form a very thin (100-200 nm) photoactive layer. The ink contains expensive materials, so the material cost to man- ufacture a solar cell by spin-coating increases one hundred fold. Another reason is that the spinning disk approach isn’t suited for FLEXIBLE COMPUTING | Continued on p3 ORGANIC SOLAR CELLS | Continued on p4 FLEXIBLE AND TRANSPARENT COMPUTING: INFORMATION ANYWHERE AND ANYTIME لعلوم لملك عبدامعة الد بجاهندسة الموام و برنامج علو من أحرز باحثون يشرحة الذية العضوي الشمسييالخاص بالخ في بحثهم ا مذهقنية تقدما والتو منانس الن خليط بمقيا– لضوءة لمتفاعل الطبقة الية تشكل عمل تفاصيلع الدوراني والتية التوزي عمليل خ– مستقبلةالمواد الحة وت الممنولكترونا اه علىة لتوزيع بسرعة عالي إلى قاعدة تدورولمحلية من الإضافة كم( تلخص في تهمةنتائج مسائل ملجت ال . وعا) قوة الطرد المركزيستخداملقاعدة با طبقة ا عاليةت كفاءة شمسية ذايانتاج خر في ان لها دور كبيسيكومجال و في هذا ال. roll-to-roll لطباعةت ام تقنياستخدا باة لهذا الشهرلصادر ذائعة الصيت واAdvanced Materials وقد نشرت مجلةس فريق أماسيان رئيفسور أرامه البرولذي قام بئج هذا البحث افها نتا على غ بعد الدكتوراهئية بالجامعة، وباحث ما الضوياية والخت العضولكترونيا اي تشو.ر كانغ و الدكتوشعةتون ات البصرية لسنكرولقياسات وا مرة التشتول ويستعرض البحث على طبقة سفلية تدورولمحليف ال عملية تجفلئق السرعة خلسينية فا اة مبني علىة العضوي الشمسييالخلحالي ل أن الفهم ا من بسرعة. وبالرغمتغلبوا من ال تمكنملك عبدامعة الن علماء جا اعد الترسب إ قياسات ما ب عن حركة جديدةفاقار الذي فتح لهم ام التقنية الرئيسية العقبات على ا ويجف الحبر الشمسينتشر فيها ي التينفصال ومرحلة اتبلورية ال عملسل وتسللضوء.ة لمتفاعلية الشمسية الخل طبقة اليشكلص الدوار لى القر علاف، سريعة الجفوزيع طبقات موحدة طريقة فعالة لتع الدوراني التوزي قد يمثلذهمكن ترقية ه يبرات فقط حيثى بيئة المخت عل أن استخدامه مقتصرا إة قد تعملذه الطريقاعي. و بشكل عام فإن هج الصننتاير اة إلى معاي التقنية في الشمسيياعظم الخجت م و أنتبراتستوى المختلغاية على م بصورة جيد لعض العيوب الرئيسية. أن لديها بخيرة، إ السنوات اة بقوله " يقذف التوزيعذه التقنيض عيوب هور أماسيان بع و يشرح البرفس من السطح)الحبر( المترسبولمحلن كمية الائة م في الم99 نسبة الدوراني. ولكن) نانومتر100-200( بقياسيقة جدالضوء رقة ل طبقة متفاعليشكل لة لتصنيعلماديتكلفة ا يزيد الما م مكلفة جداحتوي على موادستخدم ي الحبر المضافة إلى أن طريقة مرة، باني بمائةزيع الدوراية بواسطة التو الشمسيا الخمكن توسيع ي لذلكroll-to-roll. لطباعةئمة لتقنية ا غير مص الدوار القرع الدوراني".ة التوزي أو ترقية عمليعملية أوسع لعضوية حل الشمسية اليا الخ في مجالن يعمل غالبية م ويفضلمجال. بكثرة في هذا الستخدمةفة والممكللجة الفراغ ال من معااعة بد الطبيا ل ا مراقبة تشكة العضوية الشمسيIMAGINE arriving at the airport, then taking out a fully functional, neatly folded, ultra-thin com- puter device from inside your shirt pocket, and using it to check into a flight. “New research into flexible inorganic electronics could make this happen in the next two decades,” said Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering Muhammad M. Hussain. In a paper recently published in the high- impact journal physica status solidi RRL and featured on the back cover (7, No. 3 (2013) [DOI 10.1002/pssr.201206490 (2013)]), co-authors Prof. Hussain and his PhD student Jhonathan Rojas from the professor’s Integrated Nanotechnology Group, provide a model for producing a flexible silicon platform for high performance electronics through their breakthrough research. The paper examines the following proposition: “Can we build a truly high-performance computer that is both flexible and transparent?” OBSERVING THE FORMATION OF ORGANIC SOLAR CELLS 4 تمه صفحة تافة:رنة و الشفة اعا ا أي مكانعلومات توفر ا و زمانرتك من جيب ست ثم تخرجلمطار إلى ا تخيل أن تصلق ويعمل بأداء وأنييق جدا مطوي رق جهاز كمبيوتر عن بطاقة بدي ف رقمي عره كمستخدم عال، ثم ت حسينحمد مفسور البرو يقوللطائرة. ا صعودلعلوم لملك عبدامعة اللمساعد في جاذ استا اق ذلك عن طريق البحوثمكن تحقية " ي و التقنير العضوية المرنةرونيات غيلكت لدة في مجال الجديلقادمين". العقدين ال خفى صفحة الغ علقة نشرت مؤخرا في ور كر و ذ ذاتphysica status solidi RRL مجلةفي لخل الفسور حسين البر تأليفها و شارك في التأثير الكبير روخاس مناثانلب الدكتوراه جون و تلميذه طاعلماء لتكاملة ، أن بحثانو الملناجموعة تقنية ا منتاج مبتكرا نموذجا يقدمملك عبدامعة ال جاداء.لية ارونيات عالكت مرنة لصة سيليكون من بناء "هل يمكن فعلتاليقتراح اتبحث الورقة ا و فيافن مرن و شفداء يكولي ا جهاز كمبيوتر عا؟". معا آن4 تمه صفحة تProf. Hussain and his PhD candidate student Jhonathan Rojas examining a flexible silicon piece with devices. Prof. Aram Amassian
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InSIDe: news 2 new faculty 5 Community 8Research 1, 3-4, 6-7
King Abdullah University of Science and technology at thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
The research highlights a world-first, high-speed synchrotron X-ray
scattering and optical measurements during the drying of a solu-
tion on a rapidly rotating substrate. While current understanding
of organic solar cells is provided mainly by post-deposition meas-
urements, KAUST scientists have overcome key technical hurdles
allowing them to provide new insights on the kinetics and sequence
of crystallization and phase separation as the solar ink spreads and
dries on the spinning disk to form the photoactive layer of a solar cell.
Spin-coating may represent an effective way of coating uniform
and fast-drying layers, but its usage is exclusively limited to lab-
oratory settings, the reason being that spin-coating it not scalable
up to manufacturing line standards. Essentially, this method per-
forms extremely well at the laboratory level and produced most of
the record-setting solar cells reported in recent years, but it has some
major flaws.
Enumerating some reasons for this limitation, Prof. Amassian
explained, “Spin-coating ejects 99% of the deposited solution (ink)
from the surface to form a very thin (100-200 nm) photoactive layer.
The ink contains expensive materials, so the material cost to man-
ufacture a solar cell by spin-coating increases one hundred fold.
Another reason is that the spinning disk approach isn’t suited for
fleXiBle comPutinG | Continued on p3 orGAnic solAr cells | Continued on p4
Flexible And TrAnSpArenT CompuTing: inFormATion Anywhere And AnyTime
المواد بجامعة الملك عبداهلل للعلوم أحرز باحثون من برنامج علوم وهندسة والتقنية تقدمًا مذهاًل في بحثهم الخاص بالخاليا الشمسية العضوية الذي يشرح من النانو بمقياس خليط – للضوء المتفاعلة الطبقة تشكل عملية تفاصيل اإللكترونات الممنوحة والمواد المستقبلة – خالل عملية التوزيع الدوراني والتي تتلخص في )إضافة كمية من المحلول إلى قاعدة تدور بسرعة عالية لتوزيعه على طبقة القاعدة باستخدام قوة الطرد المركزي( . وعالجت النتائج مسائل مهمة في هذا المجال وسيكون لها دور كبير في انتاج خاليا شمسية ذات كفاءة عالية
. roll-to-roll باستخدام تقنيات الطباعةوقد نشرت مجلة Advanced Materials ذائعة الصيت والصادرة لهذا الشهر على غالفها نتائج هذا البحث الذي قام به البروفسور أرام أماسيان رئيس فريق الدكتوراه بعد ما وباحث بالجامعة، الضوئية والخاليا العضوية اإللكترونيات
الدكتور كانغ وي تشو.األشعة لسنكروتون البصرية والقياسات التشتت مرة ألول البحث ويستعرض تدور سفلية طبقة على المحلول تجفيف عملية خالل السرعة فائق السينية على مبني العضوية الشمسية للخاليا الحالي الفهم أن من وبالرغم بسرعة. قياسات ما بعد الترسب إال ان علماء جامعة الملك عبداهلل تمكنوا من التغلب حركة عن جديدة افاقًا لهم فتح الذي األمر الرئيسية التقنية العقبات على وتسلسل عملية التبلور ومرحلة االنفصال التي ينتشر فيها الحبر الشمسي ويجف
على القرص الدوار ليشكل طبقة الخلية الشمسية المتفاعلة للضوء.قد يمثل التوزيع الدوراني طريقة فعالة لتوزيع طبقات موحدة سريعة الجفاف، إال أن استخدامه مقتصرًا على بيئة المختبرات فقط حيث ال يمكن ترقية هذه التقنية إلى معايير اإلنتاج الصناعي. و بشكل عام فإن هذه الطريقة قد تعمل بصورة جيد للغاية على مستوى المختبرات و أنتجت معظم الخاليا الشمسية في
السنوات األخيرة، إال أن لديها بعض العيوب الرئيسية. التوزيع يقذف " بقوله التقنية هذه عيوب بعض أماسيان البرفسور يشرح و الدوراني نسبة 99 في المائة من كمية المحلول المترسب )الحبر( من السطح ولكن نانومتر(. 100-200( بقياس جدًا رقيقة للضوء متفاعلة طبقة ليشكل الحبر المستخدم يحتوي على مواد مكلفة جدًا مما يزيد التكلفة المادية لتصنيع أن طريقة إلى باإلضافة بمائة مرة، الدوراني التوزيع بواسطة الشمسية الخاليا القرص الدوار غير مالئمة لتقنية الطباعة .roll-to-roll لذلك ال يمكن توسيع
أو ترقية عملية التوزيع الدوراني".ويفضل غالبية من يعمل في مجال الخاليا الشمسية العضوية حل أوسع لعملية الطباعة بدال من معالجة الفراغ المكلفة والمستخدمة بكثرة في هذا المجال.
مراقبة تشّكل اخلاليا الشمسية العضوية
ImAgINE arriving at the airport, then taking out
a fully functional, neatly folded, ultra-thin com-
puter device from inside your shirt pocket, and
using it to check into a flight. “New research into
flexible inorganic electronics could make this
happen in the next two decades,” said Assistant
Professor of Electrical Engineering muhammad
m. hussain.
In a paper recently published in the high-
impact journal physica status solidi RRL and
featured on the back cover (7, No. 3 (2013) [dOI
10.1002/pssr.201206490 (2013)]), co-authors Prof.
hussain and his Phd student Jhonathan Rojas
from the professor’s Integrated Nanotechnology
group, provide a model for producing a flexible
silicon platform for high performance electronics
through their breakthrough research. The paper
examines the following proposition: “Can we
build a truly high-performance computer that is
both flexible and transparent?”
oBSeRVIng the foRmAtIon of oRgAnIC SolAR CellS
تتمه صفحة 4
املعاجلة املرنة و الشفافة: توفر املعلومات يف أي مكان
و زمانتخيل أن تصل إلى المطار ثم تخرج من جيب سترتك جهاز كمبيوتر مطوي رقيق جدًا وأنيق ويعمل بأداء عال، ثم تستخدمه كُمعّرف رقمي بدياًل عن بطاقة حسين محمد البروفسور يقول الطائرة. صعود األستاذ المساعد في جامعة الملك عبداهلل للعلوم البحوث طريق عن ذلك تحقيق يمكن " التقنية و الجديدة في مجال لإللكترونيات غير العضوية المرنة
خالل العقدين القادمين". الغالف ورقة نشرت مؤخرًا على صفحة ُذكر في و ذات physica status solidi RRL لمجلة الخلفي التأثير الكبير و شارك في تأليفها البرفسور حسين من روخاس جوناثان الدكتوراه طالب تلميذه و لعلماء بحثًا أن ، المتكاملة النانو تقنية مجموعة جامعة الملك عبداهلل يقدم نموذجًا مبتكرًا إلنتاج األداء. عالية لإللكترونيات مرنة سيليكون منصة وتبحث الورقة االقتراح التالي "هل يمكن فعاًل بناء جهاز كمبيوتر عالي األداء يكون مرن و شفاف في
آٍن معًا؟". تتمه صفحة 4
prof. hussain and his phd candidate student Jhonathan rojas examining a flexible silicon piece with devices.
prof. Aram Amassian
CORRECTION: In the march Beacon article on the SEdCO Research Excellence Award Workshop on page 3, mandeep Kaur was incorrectly titled a postdoctoral fellow. The correct title is senior research scientist.
in Brief new eneRgy oASIS AnD SolAR teChnology hIghlIghteD At KAUSt
ThE KINgdOm’S “renewed momentum and commitment to produce solar technology” and KAUST’s
partnerships in the field will help local industry meet Saudi Arabia’s solar energy needs, Amin
Shibani, KAUST Vice President of Economic development, told the audience at the New Energy
Oasis (NEO) Spotlight on SunPower Technology workshop on march 6.
The workshop, which was hosted by KAUST’s Technology Application and Advancement group
(TAAg) and Total, brought together more than 100 executives from local utility companies and
government agencies, technical advisors, industrial representatives, and KAUST community mem-
bers. SunPower, a leading provider of solar technology, profiled its cutting-edge solar cells and
collaborative research work in Saudi Arabia at KAUST during the event.
In April 2010, SunPower – a company now partially owned by Total, the University’s partner
through the KAUST Industry Collaboration Program (KICP) – completed a project at KAUST which
installed a 2 megawatt (mW) photovoltaic (PV) system on the roof of four of the academic buildings.
The University intends to “increase the level of building sustainability at KAUST by integrating this
renewable energy source,” explained Tamer Shahin, Solar Systems Engineer from TAAg. In march
2013, SunPower also completed an installation of a smaller-scale system at the NEO site to test
three of its products: a fixed PV system, a tracking PV system, and a low-concentration PV system.
NEO is run through collaborations between industry and academia at KAUST. The TAAg team
and NEO function as the link between the two, explained Shahin. TAAg monitors and analyzes the
SunPower systems’ performance, as they “operate under the special circumstances of Saudi weather,
including high temperatures, wind, humidity, and soiling rates,” Shahin said. “TAAg is focused on
solving the issue of dust accumulation, which reduces the energy output of solar systems.”
“Work at KAUST is addressing these issues,” said dr. Raed Bkayrat, manager of TAAg, noting
that dust accumulation can reduce a system’s output by 60%. “you have to mitigate [the issues],”
he said. “That’s why we are pushing forward with solar testing at NEO.”
State-of-the-art clean energy technologies can be tested and demonstrated at NEO, and then cer-
tified for use in the challenging environment of Saudi Arabia. “NEO is basically an outdoor test lab
that covers the areas of interest to KAUST and Saudi Arabia,” said dr. Bkayrat.
Through NEO, the University aims to develop and utilize PV technologies that can provide a market
edge “if you have a desert module that is optimized for the weather conditions of Saudi Arabia,” dr.
Bkayrat explained. “We want to provide our industry with recommendations to understand the impact
of soiling and develop dust implication solutions.” The NEO test site “emphasizes the local content of
the projects,” noted Shibani, adding that said he expects it will expand in response to strong demand
by industry to help further the Kingdom’s goals in moving towards solar and renewable energies.
KAUSt hoStS InteRnAtIonAl ConfeRenCe on ReD pAlm weeVIl
FROm march 16-18, KAUST hosted an international conference on research and management
strategies for the red palm weevil (RPW) Rhynchophorus ferrugineus. This beetle is a major pest
of all the economically important palms tree species, including the date palm that plays such an
important part in the cultural and economic heritage of Saudi Arabia. The insect was inadvertently
introduced into Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and other gulf countries in the 1980s and is
now established in all date palm growing areas.
RPW is an elusive pest and hard to detect in earlier infestation stages. By the time the obvious
signs of infestation appear, it is often too late for chemical treatment, and the infested tree must
be destroyed. The pest causes great economic losses in the Kingdom, and its control is a serious
challenge for researchers in academia, governmental agencies, and private agricultural enterprises.
The conference brought together scientists from KAUST, Saudi Arabia and the gulf region, the
Americas, Europe, and Asia to explore existing and future research strategies, as well as to lay the
foundation for collaborative research projects. during the conference, participants discussed new
research strategies and control measures to manage the pest, to prevent its further spread, as well
as to identify infested plants in earlier stages. The participants shared their expertise in fighting the
RPW and learned how other insect pests are managed and controlled. The main conference out-
comes were the establishment of a new communication channel and a possible coordination body
that will help foster collaboration.
The conference was organized by dr. Ali m Idris, Prof. Arnab Pain, Prof. Vladimir Bajic, and Prof.
Nina Fedoroff from the Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering division, and col-
leagues from Saudi Arabia, US, and the UK.
SAUDI UnIVeRSIty RepReSentAtIVeS meet to DISCUSS teChnology tRAnSfeR In the KIngDom PARTICIPANTS in the Saudi University Technology Transfer Roundtable workshop held at KAUST
on march 13 discussed the best practices, challenges, opportunities, and potential of the technol-
ogy transfer (TT) process to support the introduction of innovative new technologies tailored to
meet the Kingdom’s needs. Representatives from 11 universities, including King Fahd University
of Petroleum and minerals (KFUPm), King Saud University, Umm Al-Qura University, and King
Abdulaziz University, took part in the event.
The workshop marked “the first time all TT offices in the Kingdom came together to discuss their
role in transferring university-based technology to industry and businesses,” explained dr. Sami
Bashir, Senior Technology Portfolio manager from KAUST’s Economic development. “We produced
a learning experience in best practices that could ultimately lead to an effective TT process that is
tailor-made for Saudi society and the Saudi economy.”
Organized into three main discussion blocks, the workshop focused on commercialization of tech-
nology in Saudi Arabia, the challenges of TT in the Kingdom, and intellectual property (IP) rights and
the patenting process. In the first session, participants pointed out TT issues unique to the Kingdom,
including concerns over the infrastructure of engineering and manufacturing, little support by private
investors, and difficulties in bringing inventors and investors together. however, as maria douglass,
Acting director of Technology Transfer and Innovation (TTI), noted at the end of the session, the dis-
cussion showed representatives are “confident of a growing science and research capacity” in Saudi
Arabia, and that there is a desire to cultivate “a culture of economic entrepreneurship.”
Participants agreed one of the major issues facing interactions with businesses in the Kingdom
is that the purpose of TT offices is not to make money – a concept which may be difficult for busi-
nesses to understand. Explained dr. Iyad Al-Zaharnah, director of KFUPm’s Innovation Center and
Assistant Professor at KFUPm, “TT offices want to help in job creation. They often lose money over
a certain period.” Both dr. Zaharnah and dr. Bashir said universities and businesses must focus on
the “long-term vision” of what TT is capable of accomplishing. This vision includes understanding
that technology cannot move from the lab bench to the market in a short time period.
The participants agreed that both universities and the local business community need to understand
the importance of protecting IP, but Saudi universities must also be generous with investors and busi-
nesses. “We need to engage end-users and local stakeholders early in the process,” said dr. Osamah
Alamri, CEO of makkah Techno Valley Co. and Assistant Professor at Umm Al-Qura University.
As the Kingdom continues to move towards an innovation-based economy, TT will become even
more important, noted dr. Alamri. “There is a Saudi market [for technology],” he said, and through
TT the Kingdom should be able to “fulfill its own consumption and also export some technologies,”
with universities contributing to the economic development of Saudi Arabia.
maria douglass, Acting director of Technology Transfer and innovation, moderates a discussion session about technology transfer at the Saudi university Technology Transfer roundtable workshop on march 13.
Abdulaziz baras (left), KAuST alumnus and researcher at the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K•A•CARE), discusses solar technology at the NEO site with Abdul-rahman Al othman (right), Vice president of Saudi Cable, during the neo event on march 6.
The participants in the red palm weevil workshop, march 16-18.
news2 April 2013 The Beacon
ThIS issue focuses on some of the exciting research being conducted at KAuST and published in well-
known journals. The topics range from the development of a flexible, transparent computer that you
can fold and put in your pocket to the development of organic solar cells, the harnessing of hydro-
gen using solar energy for water-splitting, a new semi-conductor for water splitting, metal-organic
materials for effective and cost efficient carbon capture, and a catalytic system for recycling Co2.
It also introduces the faculty members who have recently become part of the KAuST family and
describes three important conferences held during the month. Don’t miss the interesting photo of
SolAR fUel geneRAtIon foR SUStAInABle SoCIety wIth ABUnDAnt mAteRIAlSdR. KAZUhIRO Takanabe is an Assistant Professor of Chemical
Science in the Catalysis Research Center and the Principal
Investigator of the Photocatalysis (Catalysis for Energy
Conversion) Laboratory. his research interests include the devel-
opment of novel nanomaterials for a variety of reactions from
conventional methane conversion to photocatalytic hydrogen
production.
Prof. Takanabe’s current research focus is on the development
of efficient photocatalysis for water splitting to harness hydro-
gen using solar energy. The study requires an understanding of
the band structure of semiconductors and of electrocatalysis on
the semiconductor surfaces. his research group is developing
visible light-responsive photocatalysis to absorb and convert
a significant amount of solar energy, and highly active nano-
structure catalysts that are immobilized on the semiconductor
surfaces to catalyze water redox reactions.
“hydrogen, when generated using renewable energy like solar
energy, is seen as a promising clean alternative to the deplet-
ing stocks of fossil fuels, but its efficient production/harnessing
remains a scientific and technological challenge, and the tech-
nologies are not yet commercially viable,” Prof. Takanabe said.
One of the most economical ways to harness hydrogen is thought
to be through solar-energy powered photocatalytic overall water
splitting (OWS). In this method, water is dissociated into hydrogen
(h2) and oxygen (O2) with the use of light’s energy.
“The photocatalytic OWS process requires a semiconductor
with suitable band positions and cocatalysts for electrochemi-
cal redox reactions. Platinum-group metals have proven to be
the excellent co-catalysts, allowing hydrogen production to take
place efficiently, but their increasing global demand and esca-
lating prices have led researchers to look for more abundant,
low cost materials,” Prof. Takanabe said.
In a recent research effort led by Prof. Takanabe, a group
of researchers investigated nano-sized tungsten carbide as a
potential substitute for noble metals in OWS applications. Prof.
Takanabe worked on the project with his Phd student Angel
T. garcia-Esparza, with dr. dongkyu Cha from the Advanced
Nanofabrication, Imaging, and Characterization Laboratory,
and their colleagues from Prof. Kazunari domen’s group at The
University of Tokyo.
“Although further optimization of the synthetic and reac-
tion conditions is needed, tungsten carbide shows promise in
the search for non-noble-metal cocatalysts for OWS,” Prof.
Takanabe said. “Our findings also show that tungsten carbide
can be used for water splitting without a core/shell structure,
and this opens up new possibilities in the design of cocatalysts
for photocatalytic OWS. This study introduces the great poten-
tial of non-metal/metal oxides, like tungsten carbides, when
made extremely small in size, as a non-noble-metal alternative
for use as a cathode catalyst in water electrolysis, as an anode
catalyst in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, and as a
dual-role cocatalyst in OWS.”
The team is also working on the visible-light-responsive sem-
iconductor materials with improved photocatalytic efficiency.
The examples include highly efficient nano-rod tantalum nitride
as a photoanode for water oxidation reaction, the collaborative
work of which is recently published in the journal Advanced
Materials and featured on the back cover. The solar energy con-
version efficiency using these materials is improving day by
day, and yet breakthrough in the energy efficiency is awaited.
“Recent advances in nanochemistry enable us to develop highly
efficient catalysts for various applications. Understanding the
reaction mechanism and functionality of the active sites, design
of the efficient and stable (photo)catalysts is to be addressed
experimentally, assessing the significant issues of human beings,
such as energy and environment,” Prof. Takanabe said.
The research paper “Tungsten Carbide Nanoparticles as
Efficient Cocatalysts for Photocatalytic Overall Water Splitting”
was published in ChemSusChem, and can be accessed at http://
dx.doi.org/10.1002/cssc.201200780. The Advanced Materials
paper, “Vertically Aligned Ta3N5 Nanorod Arrays for Solar-
driven Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting,” can be accessed
at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.201202582
Research 3April 2013www.kaust.edu.sa
According to Prof. hussain, three main challenges need to be addressed to create this ultra-light
foldable computer: "First, we have to use silicon; second, we have to match the performance that our
transistors provide on laptops and desktops; and third, the new devices need to be ultra-low power." In
essence, the goal is to create a flexible and transparent device with extremely high computation perfor-
mance that requires very low power.
In addition to the above factors, a central consideration is functionality. For example, how many tasks
can be performed on a foldable computer? By making the transistors small enough, and stacking them
together within a given amount of space, it becomes possible to instruct given sets of transistors to per-
form various tasks. “It’s not possible at all if you don’t use silicon as the substrate,” said Prof. hussain.
It’s an important advantage which silicon processing holds, as applied to flexible inorganic electron-
ics, over organic-based platforms. “A one centimeter square silicon-based platform can have one billion
devices while an organic-based substrate can hardly have a hundred devices,” Prof. hussain further
explained. “Those are the basic reasons why we should focus on flexible inorganic electronics. Basically,
they provide a stronger platform. But can we make them foldable?”
Conventional silicon (high-k/metal gate) microprocessors, holding billions of transistors, used in
today’s computers have 3.1 ghz speed. In order to achieve this novel combination of speed and flex-
ibility, the transistors are scaled down to 25 nm in length and instead have high-k/metal gate stacks.
hussain and Rojas have opted to fabricate those high-k/metal gate capacitors on the cheapest form or
bulk silicon (100) used in the semiconductor industry.
“We’re using the cheapest substrate because industry uses the cheapest substrate. This is why prices
go down every year… industry can simply grab this technology because we're not introducing any new
tools. That’s where its uniqueness is. The standard criteria of today’s traditional electronics (CmOS com-
patibility) are maintained. We're not compromising any of that. We're just adding value by bringing in
the flexibility and transparency components,” Prof. hussain explained.
Using an inexpensive bulk silicon wafer, KAUST scientists, through a series of dry etching steps, peel
off thin layers from the original substrate. This process produces an ultra-thin substrate that is not only
mechanically flexible but also optically transparent. “When we peel the layer off, it’s very thin and retains
all the properties without any loss in performance, material, or lithographic resolution…For the first time
we actually demonstrate how to get ultra-low power devices on a flexible platform,” said Prof. hussain.
Achieving flexibility and display resolution efficiency may suffice for the purposes of an LEd screen,
but more is required to develop a foldable and transparent computer.
Organic-based semiconductor layers on LEd television screens are currently available on the market.
While those are able to provide high-resolution display, the fact that performance levels aren’t optimal
isn’t a major concern. But the requirements are different for an ultra-light computer.
Performance is a crucial characteristic, or metric, in the usefulness on a foldable computer. As Prof.
hussain remarks, “If the performance is compromised, then it doesn’t make any sense.” This comes in
the form of a longer battery life for portable devices. “In addition to being ultra-light-weight, foldable,
and easily deployable (wearable, stored, or easily carried), its battery life will be for weeks and feature
terabyte non-volatile memory.”
guided by the research vision of KAUST’s Integrated Nanotechnology Lab which states: “Information
for everyone, anywhere and anytime,” Prof. hussain sees a future where every single person on earth
will carry a computer. “Because that’s how they will be connected to their information; and really, our
life is driven by information,” he added.
Specific future applications could be the implementation of a unique code or Id to access our medical
records instantly, to have the ability to withdraw money in local currency worldwide without the need
to carry physical documents, or to apply for and receive travel visas online.
In order to achieve these objectives, “we need to have an extremely powerful, ultra-mobile device in
our pocket. That’s where the flexibility comes from,” concluded Prof. hussain.
prof. hussain is holding a flexible silicon piece (2.3 cm x 1.2 cm) with fabricated devices.
phd student Angel T. garcia-esparza and prof. Takanabe
fleXiBle comPutinG | Continued from p1
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Verlag gmbh
& Co. KgaA. Reproduced
with perm
ission.
April 2013 The BeaconResearch4
roll-to-roll printing. So spin-coating is not very
scalable for those reasons.”
many in the organic solar cell community
would actually prefer large-scale solution print-
ing as opposed to potentially costly vacuum
processing, even though the latter may emerge
as a strong player in the field. “One of the chal-
lenges right now is that the cost of solar cells is
too high, and a lot of companies are struggling
to stay afloat even in more established thin film
technologies,” added Prof. Amassian.
The challenge then is to devise a more
cost-effective method while also improving pro-
duction yields, efficiency, and lifetimes, Prof.
Amassian explained. “A large part of the organic
solar cell community wants to use solution
printing and aims to get to 15% efficiency and
beyond in order to make this a cost-effective
and exciting technology for industry, investors,
and for customers.”
By understanding the formation of nanoscale
structure during the spin-coating process, the
most successful solution-process for organic
solar cell fabrication, it becomes possible to
transfer lessons from spin-coating to industrial
printing processes, which do not yet perform as
well as lab-based spin-coaters.
"Rather than starting from scratch with printing
processes and ignoring all the lessons of spin-
coating, we now have the tools to learn valuable
lessons from what has worked with spin-coating
and then try to transfer them over to the printing
process much more effectively," Prof. Amassian
elaborated. The research published by Prof.
Amassian and dr. Chou represents a significant
engineering achievement because it demonstrates
the ability to perform synchrotron–based X-ray
experiment in real-time.
By observing the phase separation in the
photoactive blended layer of an organic
solar cell, the nanoscale morphology pur-
ports answers to several elusive questions. For
example: how and when do crystallization and
phase separation happen? how are they related
to each other?
“In the absence of real proof, people have
speculated about how the process evolves
without really knowing with certainty. does
crystallization follow spinodal decomposition
of the polymer or does crystallization of the
polymer drive the phase separation process? I
believe the results of our experiment show that
both processes occur simultaneously and syner-
gistically. Now, our job is to make efficient solar
cells using scalable printing processes, where
conditions may be quite different from spin-
coating,” said Prof. Amassian.
While X-ray scattering has been used in the
past to investigate common organic thin film
deposition processes such as vacuum-deposition,
drop casting, and doctor-blading, studying spin-
coating had thus far posed a particular challenge.
A principal roadblock has been that spin coat-
ers move at high speed, ejecting the solution in
the line of sight of the X-ray beam and tend to
wobble. This makes it especially challenging to
focus a beam of X-rays on the constantly mov-
ing surface.
To overcome this issue, dr. Chou ingeniously
ran the experiment on a miniature spin-coater
converted from an off-the-shelf computer
hard-disc drive. After testing several models,
he created a spin-coater that could be safely
operated remotely in the confines of the pro-
tective hutch. As it turned out, the computer
drive made for a very good and stable minia-
ture spinner.
Advancements in solar cell printing tech-
niques can potentially lead to a myriad of
applications, beyond the traditional rigid solar
panels. In fact, by virtue of controlling the
thickness of the active layer, it becomes possible
to produce much thinner and semi-transparent
solar cells.
By making them low cost, these thin solar cells
could, for instance, be incorporated as energy-
renewing covers for tablet computers. “Every
time your tablet is sitting idly in the presence
of ambient light, the battery will be recharged
-- hence taking the device off the electric grid,”
said Prof. Amassian.
The energy harvested by these organic solar
cells, which could also be used to coat windows
or transparent roofs, can establish decentralized,
very light-weight sources of electricity. This can
make a difference within the Kingdom since, as
Prof. Amassian concludes, “it could be part of
the portfolio of renewable energy technologies
manufactured and deployed in Saudi Arabia and
beyond in the next few years.”
العالية التكلفة " أن: بقوله ذلك أماسيان ويؤكد جدًا للخاليا الشمسية هي إحدى التحديات الكبيرة في الوقت الحالي لجميع الشركات في هذا المجال
بالرغم من التقدم في تقنيات الطبقة الرقيقة".غير طريقة ابتكار في هو الفعلي التحدي أن كما مكلفة مع تحسين كفاءة اإلنتاج، ويوضح البروفسور أماسيان ذلك قائال :" يريد غالبية من يعمل في مجال الخاليا الشمسية العضوية استخدام محلول الطباعة و 15% من أكثر إلى الكفاءة رفع إلى يهدف و ذلك لجعل هذه التقنية اقتصادية ومفيدة للصناعة
والمستثمرين والزبائن".ومن خالل فهم كيفية تشكيل البنية النانومترية أثناء عملية التوزيع الدوراني الذي يعتبر أنجح عملية لتصنيع الدروس نقل نستطيع العضوية، الشمسية الخاليا المستفادة منها إلى عمليات الطباعة الصناعية والتي
ليست بمستوى التوزيع الدوراني في المختبرات. األدوات اآلن لدينا " أماسيان: البرفسور ويقول عملية في خبراتنا من قّيمة دروس لتعلم الالزمة التوزيع الدوراني ونقلها إلى عملية الطباعة بداًل من البدء من نقطة الصفر". ويعتبر البحث الذي نشره الهندسة في مهمًا إنجازا وتشو أماسيان من كل نظرًا ألنه يوضح القدرة على أداء تجربة لسنكروتون
األشعة السينية في الوقت الفعلي. و يلقي علم التشكل النانومتري الضوء على العديد من األسئلة المحيرة من خالل مراقبة مرحلة الفصل خلية في للضوء المتفاعلة المخلوطة الطبقة في ومتى كيف المثال: سبيل فعلى عضوية. شمسية تحدث عملية التبلور ومرحلة االنفصال؟ و ما مدى
العالقة بينهما؟ هذه تطور " أن إلى النظر أماسيان البرفسور ولفت البراهين لغياب نظرًا التوقعات قيد كان العملية spinod- التحلل عملية التبلور يتبع فهل )الحقيقة.
al( للبوليمر أو أن تبلور البوليمر هو من يدفع عملية الفصل المرحلي؟ أعتقد أن نتائج تجربتنا تبين أن كلتا العمليتين تحدثان في نفس الوقت وبالتعاون والتوافق الخاليا جعل هي اآلن ومهمتنا البعض. بعضها مع للترقية القابلة الطباعة عملية في فعالة الشمسية
والتطوير ، حيث تختلف الظروف عن التوزيع الدوراني".و بالرغم من استخدام تقنية تشتت األشعة السينية في الماضي للتحقق من تحلل فلم عادي عضوي رقيق doc- و ، واإلسقاط ، الفراغ ترسب مثل بعمليات tor-blading ، إال أن دراسة عملية التوزيع الدوراني العقبة وتكمن اآلن. حتى خاصًا تحديًا تشكل كبيرة بسرعة يدور التوزيع قرص أن في الرئيسية األشعة مجال بإتجاه المحلول ويقذف ويتذبذب السينية مما يعيق عملية تركيز الشعاع على السطح
السفلي المتحرك بإستمرار.تشو الدكتور لجأ المشكلة هذه على وللتغلب قرص على التجربة إجراء وهي بارعة فكرة إلى توزيع صغير جدًا تم تطويره من سواقة قرص صلب لكمبيوتر قديم. واستطاع بعد تجربة عدة نماذج من بأمان استخدامه يمكن دوراني توزيع قرص تطوير ضمن حدود صندوق الحماية. حيث اتضح ان سواقة أقراص تعطينا الشخصي للكمبيوتر الصلب القرص
صغيرة جدًا تدور بثبات. الخاليا طباعة تقنيات في التقدم يؤدي أن ويمكن بخالف التطبيقات من كبير عدد إلى الشمسية األلواح الشمسية التقليدية، كما يمكن كذلك إنتاج بالتحكم شفافة وشبه بكثير أرق شمسية خاليا الخاليا وبجعل هذه النشطة فقط. الطبقة بسماكة أن يمكن التكلفة منخفضة الرقيقة الشمسية تستغل في تطبيقات متعددة مثل دمجها مع غطاء وسيتم للطاقة، متجدد كمصدر اللوحي الكمبيوتر فيها يدخل مرة كل في البطارية شحن إعادة الكمبيوتر اللوحي طور الخمول بوجود إضاءة محيطة وتعطينا الكهربائية. الدائرة عن االستغناء وبالتالي هذه الخاليا الشمسية العضوية والتي يمكن أن تغطي النوافذ أو األسطح الشفافة مصادر كهربائية مستقلة
و خفيفة الوزن. وأوضح البرفسور أماسيان في نهاية حديثه مدى أهمية أن يمكن " بقوله: السعودية العربية للمملكة ذلك استثمارًا في العضوية الشمسية الخاليا تشكل هذه المملكة في تصنع التي المتجددة الطاقة تقنيات
".وتصدر للعالم في السنوات القليلة القادمة
miniature spin-coater constructed from a computer hard disk drive measures only 3 cm diameter and is mounted on an aluminum base.
وفقًا للبرفسور حسين، توجد ثالث تحديات رئيسية يجب معالجتها إلنشاء هذا الكمبيوتر البالغ الخفة والقابل للطي: " أواًل، يتعين علينا استخدام رقاقة السيليكون ؛ وثانيًا يجب أن يجاري نفس أداء الترانزستورات في أجهزة الكمبيوتر المحمولة والمكتبية، وثالثًا، يجب أن يكون الجهاز الجديد ذو استهالك منخفض للطاقة". و بشكل عام، هدفنا إنشاء
جهاز مرن وشفاف، مع معالجة حاسوبية عالية للغاية، وباستهالك منخفض جدًا للطاقة.يعتبر األداء الوظيفي من أهم العوامل المذكورة أعاله. فعلى سبيل المثال، كم عدد المهام التي يمكن أن ينجزها الكمبيوتر المطوي؟ ويمكن من خالل جعل الترانزستورات صغيرة بما فيه الكفاية و رصها معًا في حيز محدد أن تؤدي مهام متعددة. يقول البروفسور حسين "ولكن ذلك غير ممكن دون استخدام رقاقة السيليكون". و هي إحدى المزايا المهمة في المعالجة بواسطة السيليكون و يتبين ذلك من خالل المقارنة بين اإللكترونيات ذات المنصات غير العضوية المرنة مع المنصات العضوية األخرى حيث أن سنتيمترًا مربعًا واحدًا لمنصة من السيليكون يمكن أن تستوعب مليار جهاز في حين أن المنصات العضوية بالكاد تستوعب مائة جهاز. و يوضح البرفسور حسين ذلك بقوله " تلك هي األسباب األساسية التي تدفعنا للتركيز على اإللكترونيات غير العضوية
المرنة حيث أنها المنصة األقوى من نوعها، لكن هل يمكننا أن نجعلها قابلة للطي؟ ". تبلغ سرعة معالجات السيليكون التقليدية )high-k/metal gate( التي تحوي على مليار ترانزستور والمستخدمة في أجهزة الكمبيوتر اليوم 3.1 جيجاهيرتز. ولتحقيق هذه التركيبة الجديدة من السرعة والمرونة، يتم تقليص طول الترانزستورات الى 25 نانومتر واالستعاضة بحزم فقط من high-k/metal gate. وقد خلص البروفسور حسين و تلميذه روخاس الى تصنيع مكثفات high-k/metal gate في أرخص شكل أو خام السيليكون )100(
المستخدم في صناعة أشباه الموصالت. و يضيف البرفسور حسين " نستخدم أرخص الرقاقات ألن المصانع تستخدم أرخص الرقاقات. و هذا السبب في انخفاض األسعار كل عام...ويمكن للمصانع أن تستخدم هذه التقنية ألننا ببساطة ال نقدم أي أدوات جديدة وهذا ما يميزها، حيث حافظنا على المعايير القياسية لإللكترونيات التقليدية الحالية )توافقية CMoS(. لم نغير
في أي من ذلك و لكننا أثرينا قيمتها بإضافة مكونات مرنة وشفافة".
و تمكن علماء جامعة الملك عبداهلل باستخدام رقاقة من خام السيليكون الغير مكلف واعتمادهم خطوات التنميش الجاف من تقشير طبقات رقيقة من الطبقة السفلية األصلية. و نتج عن هذه العملية طبقة سفلية رقيقة جدًا ذات مرونة عالية و شفافة في نفس الوقت. يقول البرفسور حسين " الطبقة التي تم تقشيرها رقيقة جدًا ومحتفظة بجميع خصائصها دون أي تأثير على األداء أو المواد أو دقة الطبع...حيث استعرضنا فعال و للمرة
األولى كيفية الحصول على أجهزة ذات استهالك منخفض جدًا للطاقة وعلى منصة مرنة".يمكن تحقيق المرونة مع إظهار دقة وضوح كبيرة ألغراض تطوير شاشات من نوع lED، و لكن تطوير جهاز
كمبيوتر قابل للطي وشفاف يحتاج إلى جهد أكبر. طبقات أشباه الموصالت العضوية في شاشات التلفزيون lED متوفرة حاليًا في السوق. و هي تعطي دقة وضوح عالية جدًا اال أن أدائها غير متفوق وهو أمر غير مطلوب بالنسبة للشاشات، لكن االمر مختلف تمامًا عند تطوير كمبيوتر رقيق جدًا. فاألداء من الخصائص المهمة بالنسبة للكمبيوتر المطوي. وقد وضح البرفسور حسين ذلك بقوله " ال معنى لكل ذلك بدون تحقيق األداء، فباإلضافة إلى كون الكمبيوتر خفيف الوزن و قابل للطي و سهل في التعامل
)من ناحية التخزين أو سهولة الحمل( ، يجب أن يكون عمر البطارية لمدة أسابيع و يتضمن ذاكرة بالتيرابايت". انطالقا من رؤية مختبر تقنية النانو المتكاملة في جامعة الملك عبداهلل و التي تنص على: "أن المعلومات للجميع، في أي مكان وزمان", يعرض البرفسور محمد حسين تصوره عن المستقبل بقوله " سيحمل كل شخص على سطح األرض كمبيوترًا يمكنه من الحصول على المعلومات في أي وقت، فحياتنا في واقع األمر تعتمد على المعلومات". قد يكون من تطبيقات المستقبل استخدام شفرة معينة أو رقم هوية ID للدخول إلى سجالتنا الطبية على الفور أو سحب المال بالعملة المحلية في جميع أنحاء العالم دون الحاجة لحمل الوثائق المادية، أو تقديم الطلبات و
الحصول على تأشيرات السفر عبر اإلنترنت. و من أجل تحقيق هذه األهداف يختم البرفسور حسين بقوله " نحن بحاجة إلى جهاز محمول قوي للغاية و فائق
." الدقة في جيوبنا. وهنا تأتي فائدة المرونة
املعاجلة املرنة و الشفافة: توفر املعلومات يف أي مكان و زمان
Reproduced with permission. Copyright 2013, wiley.
orGAnic solAr cells | Continued from p1
new faculty 2012-2013
saliM al BaBili Associate Professor, Bioscience, BESE
habilitation, University of Freiburg,
germany. Phd, Cell Biology, University
of Freiburg, germany. From University
of Freiburg, germany
enzo Di FaBRizio Professor, material Science and
Engineering, PSE. Phd, Physics,
University of Rome “La Sapienza,” Italy.
From Italian Institute of Technology, Italy
hong iM
Professor, mechanical Engineering, PSE
Phd, mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering, Princeton University, US.
From University of michigan, US
ValeRio oRlanDo
Professor, Bioscience, BESE
Phd, Biology, University of Rome “La
Sapienza,” Italy.
From dulbecco Telethon Institute, Italy
MaRk TesTeRProfessor, Bioscience, BESE. Phd, Plant
Sciences, University of Cambridge, UK.
From the University of Adelaide and the
Australian Centre for Plant Functional
genomics, Australia
MooTaz elnozahY
dean of CEmSE
Professor of Computer Science. Phd,
Computer Science, Rice University, US.
From IBm Research, US.
MagDY MahFouz
Assistant Professor, Bioscience, BESE
Phd, molecular genetics, Ohio State
University, US. Previously a Postdoctoral
Team Leader from Center for desert
Agriculture, KAUST, Saudi Arabia
enRico TRaVeRsa
Professor, material Science and
Engineering, PSE. Phd, Chemical
Engineering, University of Rome “La
Sapienza,” Italy. From National Institute
for materials Sciences, Japan
MaTThew MccaBe
Associate Professor, Environmental Science
and Engineering, BESE. Phd, Civil and
Environmental Engineering, University of
Newcastle, Australia. From University of
New South Wales, Australia
ToM wu Associate Professor, material
Science and Engineering, PSE. Phd,
Physics, University of maryland, US.
From Nanyang Technology University,
Singapore
MohaMMaD Younis
Associate Professor, mechanical
Engineering, PSE. Phd, Engineering
mechanics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and State University, US. From State
University of New york at
Binghamton, US
oMaR MohaMMeD
aBDelsaBooR Assistant Professor, Chemical Sciences, PSE. Phd, Physical Chemistry, max-Born Institute, germany. From
California Institute of Technology, US
MaRc genTon
Professor, Applied mathematics, CEmSE
Phd, Statistics, Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology (EPFL) Switzerland.
From Texas A&m University, US
PeiYing hong
Assistant Professor, Environmental
Science and Engineering, BESE
Phd, Environmental Science and
Engineering, National University of
Singapore, Singapore. From University
of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, US
Manuel aRanDa Assistant Professor, marine Science, BESE
Phd, Evolutionary genetics, University
of Cologne, germany. Previously a
Postdoctoral Researcher from Red Sea
Research Center, KAUST, Saudi Arabia
SINCE the academic year began in September, a number of academics and scientists have joined
the faculty furthering the University’s mission to develop scientific leaders of tomorrow, to under-
take groundbreaking research, and to help solve the challenges of Saudi Arabia, the region, and
the world. Some joined earlier in the year, and some arrived only recently. We welcome them all
nature11893.html) co-authored by mohamed Eddaoudi, Professor
of Chemical Science and Associate director of the Advanced
membranes and Porous materials Research Center. he and a team
of research scientists from KAUST, including senior research sci-
entist dr. youssef Belmabkhout, postdoctoral fellow dr. Amy
Cairns, and founding Phd student Ryan Luebke, and collabora-
tors from the University of South Florida examined a class of
mOms that can be structurally altered to better “grab” onto CO2
selectively in the presence of other gases, allowing for efficient
and environmentally friendly carbon capture, a process that is
increasingly important in today’s energy footprint-conscious
world. As Prof. Eddaoudi stated, “Reducing CO2 emissions in the
atmosphere is absolutely critical. As scientists, we have to tackle
this issue today. It is a problem of the whole community.”
Previously, porous materials with unsaturated metal cent-
ers (UmCs) or organic amines that can interact with CO2 were
employed as sorbents, materials that can sorb CO2. Sorbents are
commonly used in other important processes, such as oil spill
removal. however, these classes of sorbents have several draw-
backs: as sorbates load onto the sorbent, selectivity for CO2
decreases; water vapor “competes” with the CO2 for adsorption;
and most importantly, an energy penalty (parasitic energy) is
associated with the reactivation, regeneration, and recycling pro-
cess of the sorbent. These issues indicated to the researchers that
the discovery and development of new sorbents that can capture
CO2 efficiently over a range of conditions and in various gas sep-
aration processes was of great importance.
mOms are a “new emerging class of solid state materials. Their
organic and inorganic constituents can be tuned to construct a
made-to-order functional porous material,” Prof. Eddaoudi said.
“The ability to assemble mOms from molecular building blocks,
or ‘LEgO chemistry,’ permits the tuning of the resultant material
porosity and internal properties.”
This on-demand “tuning”
procedure is made possible by
crystal engineering or isoretic-
ular chemistry, and allows the
production of modular three-
dimensional frameworks. The
class of mOms Prof. Eddaoudi’s
research examines are square
grids “pi l lared” via SiF62-
(SIFSIX) anions.
When metal nodes are connected to organic “linkers” to make
mOms, the materials provide very large surface areas for CO2
loading, which is advantageous for CO2 capture. however, the
large surface area does not necessarily mean the material can sep-
arate CO2 efficiently under practical conditions. The researchers
discuss three variants of one SIFSIX cubic net, called [Cu(4,4’-
bipyridine)2(SiF6)]n, or SIFSIX-1-Cu, that can take up CO2 in a
“highly selective” manner, and how best to utilize these SIFSIX
variants for CO2 separation.
The researchers report how the binary gas adsorption selectivity
was “dramatically higher” for variant SIFSIX-2-Cu-i compared to
variant SIFSIX-2-Cu. They attributed this to the enhanced isosteric
heat of adsorption (Qst) of SIFSIX-2-Cu-i compared to SIFSIX-2-Cu.
When they compared variant SIFSIX-3-Zn to SIFSIX-2-Cu-i, it
showed much higher selectivity for CO2 than SIFSIX-2-Cu-i, and
the CO2 was retained for a longer period of time.
Importantly, CO2 adsorption selectivity of SIFSIX-3-Zn in
binary gas separation was found to be “unprecedented,” and
SIFSIX-3-Zn “outperform[ed]” mg-dobdc, another metal-organic
framework material with an unsaturated metal center, the Nature
letter stated. SIFSIX-3-Zn adsorbed CO2 in a highly selective
manner over h2, which may enable scientists to use it in h2
purification or pre-combustion capture in the oil and gas indus-
try. Indeed, when they tested SIFSIX-3-Zn with gas mixtures,
they found it adsorbed CO2 more strongly and quickly than N2,
O2, Ch4, and h2, “excluding
all other gases.” SIFSIX-
3-Zn “fulfills the demanding
attributes required for eco-
nomical and efficient CO2
post-combustion separa-
tion,” the researchers report.
“my research group’s main
focus is to make functional
materials by design,” said
Prof. Eddaoudi. “We develop
new strategies to assemble
materials in a rational way
and target specific applications with these materials, including
CO2 capture.” his group’s work with mOms reveals that pore size
control and electrostatic interactions enabled by inorganic anions
gives porous materials – like the three variants of SIFSIX-1-Cu
– the ability to have “exceptional selectivity, recyclability, and
moisture stability,” important characteristics for industry, where
the process of CO2 separation is essential. “I believe now more
than ever that mOms will provide the needed sorbents, and it is
only a matter of time before mOms find their way to key indus-
trial separation applications,” Prof. Eddaoudi said. “The route is
paved to access unique, highly selective, and economical mOms
for CO2 capture, exclusively based on physical adsorption.”
“I dON’T want you to ever write a business plan again because it’s a waste of time,” said author
and entrepreneur dr. Alexander Osterwalder during a recent Entrepreneurship Center lecture series.
dr. Osterwalder’s book Business Model Generation, co-authored with yves Pigneur, has sold over
600,000 copies and has been translated into over 26 languages.
Referring to dwight d. Eisenhower’s famous quote, “plans are worthless, but planning is every-
thing,” dr. Osterwalder believes that while there’s nothing inherently wrong with a business plan,
an unreasonable amount of time is often invested in going into irrelevant details. “A business plan
is basically made up,” he said, adding “no business plan survives the first contact with customers,”
a quote from Silicon Valley entrepreneur Steve Blank.
dr. Osterwalder argues that regardless of how smart entrepreneurs are, they need to learn about
the customers and their real needs very quickly. Success often comes after series of failures. “I think
entrepreneurship and innovation in general cannot happen if there’s no willingness to fail,” he said.
In fact, dr. Osterwalder believes that if a startup receives too much funding too quickly, there is a
great probability that it will fail because founders are less likely to thoroughly test their ideas in
the market.
Once an entrepreneur has identified a business opportunity, the first step is to search for the right
business model. This does not mean writing a plan but rather devising a tested strategy to interact
with customers. At the heart of dr. Osterwalder’s bestselling book, based on his Phd thesis, is the
business model canvas.
The benefit of working with a business model canvas is that it makes use of visual language. By
organizing specific action plans into a series of defined boxes such as value propositions, channels,
key partners, key activities, cost structure, and revenue stream, entrepreneurs and business leaders
are able to engage in “clear and tangible strategic conversations,” he explained.
The second step is to do a mVP (minimum Viable Product). While prototyping is routinely done
in certain professions, such as design, business schools have not traditionally adopted this creative
approach for startups. “We taught people how to do accounting, how to do finance, and that's per-
fect because that’s what it’s about when you execute an existing business model. But creating new
concepts is something different,” said dr. Osterwalder.
“We need to use visual language to have a better understanding. To clearly know what we’re talk-
ing about when we’re reviewing the business model…Using visual tools to make things clearer is
crucial. It’s a game changer,” dr. Osterwalder said.
Entrepreneurs who have really made their mark in business have not only been very good at
responding to customer needs but they have also been visionaries. As dr. Osterwalder remarks, “the
task of an entrepreneur is asking himself or herself what could be and what could be possible. But
then always checking with users to see if their ideas really create value or not.” As an example, he
quoted pioneering automaker henry Ford who said if he would have asked people what they wanted
“they would have said a faster horse.”
True entrepreneurial game-changers therefore need to have vision and the ability to offer the right
value proposition within an effective business model.
dr. Alex osterwalder demonstrating the workings of the business model canvas.
how to SUCCeeD In BUSIneSS wIthoUt A BUSIneSS plAn
Research6 The BeaconApril 2013
metAl-oRgAnIC mAteRIAlS foR effeCtIVe AnD CoSt-effICIent CARBon CAptURe
(l-r) Co-authors Amy Cairns, ryan luebke, and youssef belmabkhout close the high pres-sure cell of the magnetic Suspension balance (mSb) after loading novel metal-organics framework materials for a low-high pressure single and mixture gas adsorption study.
Image: vincent Guillerm, ryan luebke, Ekaterina Mikhaylova
ThE PROdUCTION of hydrogen fuel from sunlight and water by
semiconductor-based photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting
is proven to be a sustainable solution to the energy crisis and
greenhouse problem.
“Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been the semiconductor of choice
due to its remarkable photo-stability, nontoxicity, and the high
abundance of titanium,” said Professor Peng Wang, Assistant
Professor of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, and the
Principal Investigator of Water desalination and Reuse Research
researchers, including myself, devote significant effort to pro-
moting TiO2’s water splitting efficiency. however, due to its big
band gap (3.2 ev), TiO2 is only photoactive under ultraviolet
light, which accounts for only 5% of the total solar energy, and
the progress in extending the responsive range of TiO2 into vis-
ible light has been sluggish.”
Very recently, small band-gap semiconductor cuprous oxide
(Cu2O) has gained considerable attention in the field of water
splitting. due to its small band gap (2.0 eV), it is photoactive in
the significant portion of visible light and its theoretical water
splitting efficiency is nine times that of TiO2.
“There is good news and bad news about Cu2O, and the bad
news is that something is in the way of pushing cuprous oxide
to practical application,” said Prof. Wang. “Under illumination,
Cu2O is extremely unstable, and it loses almost all of its photo-
activity in less than a minute, which makes it practically useless.
This fast photo-activity degradation is technically referred to
as ‘photo-corrosion,’ a common problem facing many semicon-
ducting materials.”
Although considerable research efforts have been invested in
coming up with methods to synthesize a stable Cu2O photoelec-
trode for PEC water splitting, they are met only with limited success.
A recent effort in Prof. Wang’s group proposed a new strategy
to combat this common problem of photo-corrosion. The work
was published in the high impact nanoscience/nanotechnology
journal ACS Nano.
“Like many other photo-corrosion prone semiconductors, the
photo-corrosion of Cu2O occurs at the interface between elec-
trolyte solution and Cu2O,” explained Prof. Wang. “Naturally,
an effective strategy would be to keep the Cu2O from contacting
the electrolyte solution while
making sure the photo-generated
electrons from Cu2O can still be
transported into the electrolyte
solution to produce hydrogen
gas there.”
The KAUST research team’s
effort led to a proposal that
pho to-co r ro s ion cou ld be
addressed with a solution-based
carbon precursor coating and a
subsequent carbonization strat-
egy that would result in a thin
protective carbon layer on
unstable semiconductor nano-
structures. A proof-of-concept
was provided by using glucose
as the carbon precursor to form
a protective carbon coating onto Cu2O nanowire arrays, which
was synthesized from copper mesh.
Prof. Wang’s group has been working with both carbon mate-
rial and Cu2O since the inception of the group. A Phd student in
Prof. Wang’s group, Rubal dua, works on pore size modulation
of porous carbon using glucose as precursor for water purifica-
tion, and postdoc dr. Zhonghai Zhang started his first project
at KAUST on Cu2O for water splitting. “Looking back, it seems
evitable that the two materials would come across to generate
the spark of this carbon-layer protection strategy for Cu2O,” said
Prof. Wang. dua and dr. Zhang shared the first authorship for
the published ACS Nano paper.
“Carbon is naturally a great choice for the protecting layer as
it is conductive. With our approach, due to the solution-based
precursor, one can readily control the thickness of the carbon-
protective layer so it has so appropriate to block the electrolyte
solution from accessing the semiconductor surface, but at the
same time not to negatively interfere with the light absorption
of the semiconductor,” Prof. Wang said.
“The carbon-layer protected Cu2O nanowire arrays exhibited
remarkably improved photo-stability, as well as considerably
enhanced photocurrent density,” Prof. Wang said. In fact, the
carbon-layer protected Cu2O generated the highest photo-sta-
bility ever reported for a Cu2O-based photoelectrode.
The team believes that the facile strategy presented in the
work is a general approach that can address the stability issue
of many nonstable photoelectrodes, and “it has the potential to
make a meaningful contribution in the general field of energy
conversion,” Prof. Wang said.
The research paper, “Carbon-Layer-Protected Cuprous
Oxide Nanowire Arrays for Efficient Water Reduction,” can be
accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nn3057092.
“ThE STEAdILy increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2)
concentration has reached unsustainable levels. As a measure to
tackle global warming, part of the CO2 generated through fossil
fuels combustion should be recycled,” said dr. Valerio d’ Elia,
a research scientist from the KAUST Catalysis Research Center.
“CO2 is in fact a promising alternative to fossil carbon for the
preparation of commodity chemicals such as urea, organic
carbonates and pharmaceuticals. however,
only the processes that are able to functional-
ize CO2 under mild conditions of temperature,
pressure, and CO2 concentration can achieve
actual CO2 recycling,” he added.
A recent KAUST-Technische Universität
münchen (TUm) research effort aimed to iden-
tify efficient yet inexpensive catalytic systems
for the synthesis of industrially relevant chemi-
cals such as cyclic organic carbonates from CO2
and epoxides. The research was conducted at
the KAUST Catalysis Research Center under the
supervision of Center director, Professor Jean
marie Basset. The research was carried out by
Center research scientist dr. Valerio d’ Elia,
research engineer dr. Jeremie Pelletier, post-
doctoral fellow dr. hailin dong, and Antoine
monassier (a visiting TUm Phd student), in col-
laboration with TUm partners dr. mirza Cokoja
and Prof. Fritz E. Kühn.
“Niobium (Nb) is an inexpensive non-toxic
metal, but so far, molecular niobium compounds
had not been used for the catalytic conversion of CO2,” said dr. d’
Elia. “We explored readily available group 4–6 transition-metal
complexes in combination with standard nucleophilic co-catalysts
such as N, N-dimethylaminopyridine (dmAP), and tetrabutylam-
monium bromide (TBAB). NbCl5 revealed an extraordinary catalytic
activity towards the coupling of CO2 and epoxides.”
The research work resulted in a niobiumbased catalytic system
that allows for CO2 to be converted to value-added chemicals at
room temperature and at low CO2 partial pressure. The system
retained its activity at CO2 concentrations that were in the order
of flue gas from a power station, which means that waste CO2
could be recycled directly from a power plant. The research paper,
“Synthesis of Cyclic Carbonates from Epoxides and CO2 under
mild Conditions Using a Simple, highly Efficient Niobium-Based
Catalyst,” was published in the journal ChemCatChem, and can be
accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cctc.201200916.
The team’s current research is directed to the elucidation of the
reaction mechanism, with a special focus on CO2 activation, and
to the application of the catalytic system in flow reactors for the
direct conversion of waste CO2.
Research 7www.kaust.edu.sa April 2013
A StABle SemIConDUCtoR foR effICIent wAteR SplIttIng
A CAtAlytIC SyStem foR ReCyClIng Co2
dr. Valerio d'elia, dr. hailin dong and dr. Jeremie pelletier (From right to left), examining the 'in situ' ir reactors used for the catalytic conversion Co2
prof. peng wang
my universityAhmAd ShowAll AhmAd Jameel Showall is one of the University’s founding students. he
earned his master’s degree at the first graduating ceremony in 2010 and
is currently pursuing his Phd in Computer Science. As a member of the
Networking Lab (NetLab), Ahmad’s research focuses on wireless networks,
specifically on finding the optimal buffer size in multi-hop wireless networks.
Ahmad left a position as a system engineer in 2009 to join KAUST.
“Working in an industrial business is really nice, but I missed the human
touch. I love to interact with people, so I decided to go into academia and
pursue a Phd in order to have the opportunity to teach students and help them develop,” said
Ahmad. After completing his studies, he hopes to join the faculty ranks of one of the Saudi
universities to share the fruits of his experience at KAUST and to push higher education devel-
opment in Saudi Arabia.
Ahmad participated in several internships over the last few years. he interned at Texas A&m
University in 2011 where he initiated a project called SmartBelt, which is a comprehensive hajj
pilgrimage solution using Wireless Sensor Networks. In 2010, he conducted a research project at
Oxford University’s e-Research Center. The main goal of the project was to enable multi-level
parallelism in Parallel mATLAB. Ahmad was also an intern at Saudi Aramco, working with the
medical computer services group within the IT department to support chronically ill patients.
AccolAdes for srsi GrAduAtes
April 2013 Community8 The Beacon
CONgRATULATIONS to 20 KAUST Saudi Research Science
Institute (SRSI) alumni who won top positions in the Research
Track for male and female students at the IBdA’A National
Olympiad held in Riyadh on march 20. Over 5500 high schools
participated in the competition.
The SRSI program is managed by Saudi Initiatives, under
the leadership of dr. Najah Ashry, VP, Saudi Initiatives, and
is designed to inspire a select group of talented Saudi high
school students to pursue careers in science, technology, engi-
neering, and mathematics. For six weeks, students are engaged
in a rigorous program of lectures, research, and intensive aca-
demic writing. The goal is to develop budding young scientists
as a resource pool of talent for the Kingdom. The program has
been held at KAUST in the summers of 2011 and 2012 and now
has 65 alumni. Forty more inquisitive students will take part in
SRSI this coming summer from June 11-July 26.
Acknowledgement and thanks go to the KAUST professors
and research scientists who have invested their hard work and
efforts into mentoring students’ projects each year, enabling
them to achieve these excellent results.
The 20 winners are:
ReseaRch TRack Males, 11 winneRs
abdullah Bukhamsin – 2nd place
mentor: Professor Nina Fedoroff
nawaf alFawzan – 3rd place
mentor: Professor Jörg Eppinger
ammar alkhouli – 4th place
mentor: Professor Xabier Irigoien
photo of the month
"this photo was taken on earth Day to show KAUSt’s efforts to help promote global awareness about saving our environment. turning the lights off for just one hour all over the globe makes a big difference.”
phot
o by
Ron
ald
m. S
erat
o, K
AUSt
It D
epar
tmen
t
ON SATURdAy, march 23, KAUST joined Earth hour 2013 to raise awareness
about our planet’s environmental issues, sustainability, and climate change.
Earth hour is a worldwide event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF). The first event was held in Sydney, Australia, in 2007, and it has grown
ever since. This year’s event was adopted by a global community of more than
150 countries.
KAUST has taken part in the event every year since its inauguration. This
year, the Facilities & Community department helped community members take
part by broadcasting several documentaries in discovery Square. The films
included “Earth hour,” the award-winning documentary film “An Inconvenient
Truth,” and a feature of a KAUST project, “Ideal house.” The Ideal house, a
KAUST green building, is designed to reduce the overall impact of the build-
ing’s environment on human health and the natural environment by using
energy, water, and other resources efficiently and by reducing waste, pollution
and environmental degradation.
The day’s activities culminated in Earth hour. From 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.,
the KAUST website was dimmed, and all unnecessary lights were turned
off in the community.
EArTh hour, A GloBAl InITIATIvE To SAvE our PlAnET