Dalal Alezi’s latest publication reveals developments in water sorption applications

In her latest publication, Dr. Dalal Alezi, in collaboration with Prof. Mircea Dinca's lab at MIT, has demonstrated significant strides in developing practical and efficient solutions for water sorption applications in her research. This work is in progress in collaboration with MIT departments to scale up the synthesis and integrate the material into a water harvesting device. Alezi's research contributes to the development of a revolutionary material designed to efficiently absorb atmospheric water. Her work has contributed to the development of a revolutionary material designed to efficiently adsorb water from the atmosphere, holding immense potential for applications in humidity control and the direct capture of potable water. This innovative material, based on bibenzotriazolate MOF, demonstrates exceptional stability and adaptability. Alezi's work revolves around the metal–organic framework (MOF) platform, specifically employing a Zn bibenzotriazolate MOF as a base for diversification. The material's tunability allows it to capture atmospheric water at varying humidity levels (27–45%). By controlling the metal identity and coordinating nonstructural anions, Alezi and her team achieved a versatile MOF scaffold that can be employed for a diverse range of water sorption applications. The study not only unveils a fundamental theory explaining the impact of pore environment variation on water uptake but also emphasizes the material's stability and tunability. 

Dr. Dalal Alezi, presently an assistant professor of Chemistry at King Abdulaziz University (KAU), conducted her postdoctoral research at MIT under the supervision of Prof. Mircea Dinca, focusing on chemistry. Recently, Alezi was nominated for Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) V60 award, which is meant to acknowledge women in STEM who have made significant contributions to sustainability efforts in the Middle East.

You can read Alezi’s paper, "Tunable Low–Relative Humidity and High–Capacity Water Adsorption in a Bibenzotriazole Metal–Organic Framework," published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society in November 2023 here.