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Sarah Kerdi

Research Scientists

Research Scientist

FORMER MEMBER

Location:

Blg. 4, Level 4, Sea side, Office 4231-WS12

Social Profile:

Biography

Ph.D. graduated in Material Sciences from University of Lyon 1, France. I did two years of Post-doctoral Fellow at « Institut de Recherche sur la Catalyse et l’Environnement de Lyon » (ICELYON). My research has focused on preparing metallic nanoparticles embedded in mesoporous materials for catalytic applications. I joined Water Desalination and Reuse Center (WDRC)-KAUST in 2017. As a research scientist in Desal Research group, my research activities focus on optimizing the feed spacer design, controlling the fouling growth and enhancing the overall module efficiency in water treatment and desalination processes.

Research Interests

  • Optimization of spacer design for enhanced filtration processes 
  • Prevention/control of fouling developed in filtration systems 
  • Synthesis and characterization of materials 
  • Heterogeneous catalysts evaluation via chemical reactions
  • Chemical formulation

Selected Publications

  • Novel coiled hollow fiber module for high-performance membrane distillation, S Almahfoodh, A Qamar, S Kerdi, N Ghaffour, Water Research 251, 2024, 121127
  • Airfoil-shaped filament feed spacer for improved filtration performance in water treatment, A Qamar, S Kerdi, JS Vrouwenvelder, N Ghaffour, Scientific Reports 13, 2023, 10798
  • Biofilm removal efficacy using direct electric current in cross-flow ultrafiltration processes for water treatment, S Kerdi, A Qamar, JS Vrouwenvelder, N Ghaffour, Journal of Membrane Science 620, 2021, 118808
  • Novel hole-pillar spacer design for improved hydrodynamics and biofouling mitigation in membrane filtration, A Qamar, S Kerdi, SM Ali, HK Shon, JS Vrouwenvelder, N Ghaffour, Scientific reports 11, 2021, 6979
  • Fouling resilient perforated feed spacers for membrane filtration, S Kerdi, A Qamar, JS Vrouwenvelder, N Ghaffour, Water research 140, 2018, 211-219

Education

  • 2008-2011: PhD in Chemistry “Materials & Catalysis”. Université Claude Bernard-Lyon1, Lyon-France
  • 2007-2008: Master 2 in “Material Science”. Université Claude Bernard-Lyon1, Lyon-France 
  • 2005-2007: Engineering degree in “Formulation Chemistry”. Institut Textile et Chimique de Lyon (ITECH), Lyon-France

Professional Profile

  • 2021-present: Research Scientist. Water Desalination and Reuse Center (WDRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal-KSA. Team Prof. Noreddine Ghaffour.
  • 2017-2021: Research Consultant. Water Desalination and Reuse Center (WDRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal-KSA. Team Prof. Noreddine Ghaffour.
  • 2012-2014: Post-doctoral Fellow. Institut de Recherches sur la Catalyse et l’Environnement de Lyon (IRCELYON), Villeurbanne-France. Team Dr. Michèle Besson, collaboration with « Unité de Catalyse et Chimie du Solide », (UCCS), Lens-France.

KAUST Affiliations

  • Water Desalination and Reuse Center (WDRC)

Research Interests Keywords

Water Desalination Filtration Processes Spacer Design Fouling Characterization Catalysis