Amandine Cadiaux: A project on air purification with the "Make our Planet Great Again" program

Amandine CADIAU, previously based at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Saudi Arabia), has joined the UMR ICGM (UM-CNRS-ENSCM) to work on the APPAT project: Air purification using new hybrid sorbents, as part of the MOPGA priority research program to combat climate change. The project was officially launched on April 15.

Air quality is essential to everyone's well-being (animals, plants, humans). Unfortunately, intensive vehicle use and industrial fumes pollute the atmosphere around us. Toxic gases such as NOx and SOx are 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 generally, global warming. The solution proposed through the 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 by catalytic processes. This project covers several aspects: the synthesis of new materials, their gas capture properties and the catalytic degradation/conversion of the trapped gas.

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

She defended her doctoral thesis in Le Mans (2010), then worked as a post-doctoral fellow 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 (Saudi Arabia's national hydrocarbon company), aimed at using these new porous materials for their natural gas purification properties, before launching a collaborative project with the prestigious GeorgiaTech University.

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

In June 2009, she was awarded the2nd prize for communication by the Ecole doctorale Matière, Molécules et Matériaux (Angers, France), and in November 2011, the "Prix de thèse, mention Chimie" by the Association Française de Cristallographie.

The MOPGA program

Launched by the President of the French Republic in 2017, the MOPGA program rewards projects of the highest scientific level touching on subjects related to climate and planetary change (climate, energy, Earth and environmental sciences...). It is aimed at researchers from outside France who wish to develop their research project in France, in collaboration with French partners.

In addition to the contribution of the tutelles and the support of the Occitanie region, which contributes 50% of the State's commitment to MOPGA-labeled projects, the project will benefit from funding from the MUSE I-SITE for the recruitment of Abdelali Aki on a one-year post-doctorate contract starting in September 2019.