Researchers at KAUST have made a breakthrough discovery in a new family of silica nanoparticles less than a year since the university's inauguration.

In a paper published by the prestigious journal, Angewandte Chemie, Dr. Vivek Polshettiwar and Dr. Jean Marie Basset, with the help of nano-imaging experts Dr. Dongkyu Cha and other nano-imaging experts in the imaging core lab, report the discovery of a fibrous nano-silica material, KCC-1. This finding is anticipated to be significant and far-reaching in the world of catalysis and Angewandte Chemie has designated the paper "hot".

Dr. Basset, a pioneer of surface organometallic chemistry, is Director of the KAUST Catalysis Center where Dr. Polshettiwar, an expert in the synthesis of novel nanomaterials for green catalysis is a senior research scientist. Catalysis is the acceleration of a chemical reaction induced by the presence of material that is chemically unchanged at the end of the reaction; familiar examples seen in nature include digestion and fermentation. Catalysis is the foundation of today's chemical and petrochemical industry.

In an effort to be a world leader in a multidisciplinary approach called "catalysis by design", the KAUST Catalysis Center searches for advanced inorganic and polymeric nano-materials. Of particular importance to KAUST is that these materials and devices could provide the economic and environmentally benign processing of natural gas and petroleum resources in Saudi Arabia, as well as discovering new resources for energy and the environment.

The strategy of going beyond petroleum is a major challenge to the Catalysis Center. A typical example of sustainability for energy is the splitting of water (sustainable) into oxygen and hydrogen (a new energy vector) under the influence of a photo catalyst and solar light (also sustainable).

In the interdisciplinary/project-based approach unique to KAUST, Dr. Polshettiwar and Dr. Basset fused their knowledge and expertise to shape this discovery, working closely with Dr. Dongkyu Cha, an expert electron-microscope imaging and characterization scientist in KAUST's world-class Nano Core Laboratory.

Porous silica is commonly used in industrial catalysis, and silicas with large, easily accessible surface areas are in great demand. The KCC-1 silica nanospheres have never been seen before, and the combination of large, accessible surface area and fibrous surface morphology, due to the presence of a kind of dendrimeric silica fibers and their respective channels as opposed to pores will enhance the accessibility of available surface area.

Coupled with good thermal, hydrothermal and mechanical stability, this increases their allure considerably. It is by rethinking chemical design from the ground up, using the principles of "catalysis by design" rather than relying on pure serendipity that chemists like Dr. Polshettiwar (who came here from the US Environmental Protection Agency) are developing new environmentally friendly ways to manufacture products. He believes that KCC-1 will lead to the development of efficient, selective and stable catalyst systems that are truly green.

So what exactly are the implications of this invention? Catalysis has a huge impact on the industrial, agricultural, and consumer sectors, and catalysts are enablers for a broad range of devices including sensors, fuel cells, exhaust gas converters, and water purifiers.

The production of 90% of all common chemicals involves catalysis in an industry estimated to be worth $900 billion in 2005. Quite apart from KCC-1's catalyst applications, its uses in filtration (including industrial and municipal water treatment) and in the separation of chemicals in gas or liquid chromatography are being explored.

This significant discovery furthers KAUST's economic development mission as it could bring significant commercial benefits to several industries including oil and gas. Although the starting/seed template material for the production of KCC-1 is relatively expensive, the inventors believe that the overall process is not. Ideally the nano-silica would be produced in the Saudi Arabia, thus creating local employment opportunities.

The KAUST Office for Technology Transfer & Innovation has already filed Patent Corporation Treaty and US patent applications and soon will fill a GCC patent application on KCC-1. Several major companies are eager to examine and test the materials and license the patent rights from KAUST.