inorganic chemistry

porous organic polymers

covalent organic frameworks

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California Los Angeles
• Ph.D., Inorganic Chemistry, Wayne State University
• B.Sc., Chemistry, University of Western Ontario

Research Interests

Research efforts in my group are centered on the synthesis of porous materials, including porous organic polymers (POPs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs), and porous carbon for clean energy applications such as selective carbon dioxide capture, electrochemical energy storage (rechargeable batteries, capacitors) and heterogeneous catalysis (oxygen reduction reaction, alkene hydrogenation, C-C cross-coupling reactions). Through materials design, we aim to control the physical and chemical properties of porous materials to advance new technologies that address environmental protection and sustainable energy. Students develop skills in inorganic and organic synthesis and the use advanced characterization methods like SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, BET, etc. to characterize and test new materials developed during research. 

Select Publications

Kuo, C.T.; Lu, Y.; Arab, A.; Weeraratne, K. S.; El-Kaderi, H. M.; Karim, A. M. “18.1% Single Palladium Atom Catalysts on Mesoporous Covalent Organic Framework for Gas Phase Hydrogenation of Ethylene,” Cell Reports Physical Science 2021 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2021.100495).

Shehab, M.; Weeraratne, K.; Huang, T.; Lao, K. U.; El-Kaderi, H. M. “Exceptional Sodium-Ion Storage by Aza-Covalent Organic Framework for High Energy and Power Density Sodium-Ion Batteries” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2021, 13, 15083–15091.

Norouzi, N.; Das, M. K.; Richard, A. J.; Ibrahim, A. A.; El-Kaderi, H. M.; El-Shall, M. S., “Heterogeneous Catalysis by Ultra-small Bimetallic Nanoparticles Surpassing Homogeneous Catalysis for Carbon-Carbon Bond Forming Reactions,” Nanoscale 2020, 12, 19191-19202.

Abdelkader, A. A.; Norouzi, N.; Rodene, D. D.; Alzharani, A.; Gupta, R. B.; El-Kaderi, H. M. “Electrocatalytic Cathodes Based on Cobalt Nanoparticles Supported on Nitrogen–Doped Porous Carbon by Strong Electrostatic Adsorption for Advanced Lithium–Sulfur Batteries,” Energy and Fuels 2020, 34, 13038–13047.

Abdelkader, A. A.; Rodene, D. D.; Norouzi, N.; Alzharani, A.; Weeraratne, K. S.; Gupta, R. B.; El-Kaderi, H. M. “Multifunctional Electrocatalytic Cathodes Derived from Metal Organic Frameworks for Advanced Lithium-Sulfur Batteries,” Chem. – A Eur. J. 2020, 26, 13896-13903.

Awards

• Distinguished Research Award, The Virginia Section of the American Chemical Society, 2020 
• Excellence in Scholarship Award in Math and Science, 2014 
• AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Award for best paper published in Science, 2007 

Patents

• El-Kaderi, H. M.; Ashourirad, B., “Heteroatom-doped porous carbons for clean energy applications and methods for their synthesis,” US Patent 10,730,752. 2020
• Yaghi, O. M.; Côté, A. P.; El-Kaderi, H. M.; Hunt, J. R. “Crystalline 3D- and 2D-covalent Organic Frameworks,” (WO 2008091976 20080731).