After KAUST Academy
Leena completed a two-month undergraduate research internship at the University of New South Wales in Sydney through KAUST Academy, ending in September 2026. The project studied light-driven MOF materials for recovering gold from water. Leena holds a chemistry degree from Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University.
Summer project
Water Sustainability Specialization · Cohort 2026
Light-Driven MOF Micromotors for Efficient Gold Recovery from Aqueous Solutions
My project focuses on the development of MOF-on-MOF composite materials for the recovery of valuable gold resources from aqueous solutions. The approach uses UiO-66 as a stable and consistent core structure, with the porphyrinic metal–organic frameworks MOF-525 and MOF-545 grown on its surface. Using UiO-66 as a common core provides a similar structural platform for the two porphyrinic MOFs, allowing their morphology and gold recovery performance to be compared more systematically. During this project, I have been optimizing the synthesis conditions to achieve controlled growth of MOF-525 and MOF-545 on UiO-66. This includes investigating the effects of linker concentration, modulator amount, reaction time, and other synthesis conditions on the morphology and structure of the resulting MOF-on-MOF composites. The developed materials will then be evaluated for gold recovery under light irradiation, combining the adsorption properties of porous MOFs with the photocatalytic activity of the porphyrinic components. The project aims to develop a light-driven approach for valuable resource recovery and contribute to more sustainable water treatment technologies.
With KAUST Academy
- Cohort 2026
Water Sustainability Specialization
University of New South Wales · Water Sustainability Summer Internship
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