Amandine Cadiaux: An air purification project with the “Make Our Planet Great Again” program

Air quality is essential to the well-being of all living things (animals, plants, and humans). Unfortunately, heavy vehicle traffic and industrial emissions pollute the atmosphere around us. Toxic gases such as NOx and SOx are thus found in significant quantities in the air we breathe, causing serious health problems, and are partly responsible for disasters such as acid rain and, more broadly, global warming. The solution proposed through this APPAT project is to use porous materials that will selectively capture these toxic gases (SO₂, NO₂, NO, CO₂) in order to degrade and/or convert them through catalytic processes. This project covers several aspects: the synthesis of new materials, their gas-capturing properties, and the catalytic degradation/conversion of the trapped gas.

Previously a researcher at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia ( since September 2013), Amandine CADIAU specializes in the synthesis and characterization of innovative materials known as MOFs (metal-organic frameworks).

She defended her doctoral dissertation in Le Mans (2010), then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Technische Universität Dresden (Germany), the University of Aveiro (Portugal), and the Institut Lavoisier in Versailles (France). In Saudi Arabia, she worked on a project funded by ARAMCO (the Saudi national oil company), aimed at utilizing these new porous materials for their properties in natural gas purification, before launching a collaborative project with the prestigious Georgia Tech University.

• 22 publications
• 4 patents:
  • Adsorbents comprising nanoporous organic-inorganic hybrid materials for water sorption;
  • Organometallic absorbent platforms for the removal of CO₂ and H₂S from natural gas;
  • Highly stable Ni-M F6-H2O/Onpyrazine2(solvent)x metal-organic frameworks and methods of use;
  • Highly stable organic metal frameworks

In June 2009, she was awarded^second prize for her presentation by the Doctoral School of Matter, Molecules, and Materials ( Angers, France), and in November 2011, she received the “Thesis Award, Chemistry Category” from the French Crystallographic Association.

The MOPGA Program

Launched by the President of the Republic in 2017, the MOPGA program recognizes research projects of the highest scientific caliber addressing issues related to climate and global change (climate, energy, Earth and environmental sciences, etc.). It is aimed at researchers residing outside France who wish to carry out their research projects in France in collaboration with French partners.

In addition to funding from the relevant government agencies and support from the Occitanie region—which covers 50% of the state’s contribution to projects certified under the MOPGA program—the project will receive funding from I-SITE MUSE to hire Abdelali Aki on a one-year postdoctoral contract beginning in September 2019.