Qian Sun

Postdoctoral Fellows

Postdoctoral Fellow

CURRENT MEMBER

Location:

4254-WS20, building 4, Level 4, Seaside, Left side​

Social Profile:

Biography

Dr. Qian Sun obtained her master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), majoring in applied chemistry, and environmental science and engineering respectively. After graduating with a doctorate in 2025, she continues to stay in the group to conduct research as a postdoctoral researcher, and then joined KAUST's Water Desalination and Reuse Center in 2026. She dedicates to the research on novel separation membrane materials (such as COF, MOF, POC, etc.) and the separation mechanism analysis. As the first author, she has published some papers in authoritative journals of membrane technology, such as Nature Communications, ACS Nano, Nano Letters, Chemistry of Materials, and Separation and Purification Technology.

Research Interests

Top-down design, fabrication, and functionalization modulation of COF/MOF membranes; Membrane-based separation technologies for oil-water separation, molecular separation, ion sieving, seawater desalination, carbon capture; Adsorption separation (NH3 removal, alcohol-water separation); Smart (responsive) materials for membrane-based separation; Separation processes and mechanisms

Selected Publications

  • Qian Sun, Pengjia Dou, Jingcheng Du, Ayan Yao, Dong Cao, Ji Ma, Shabi Ul Hassan, Jian Guan, Jiangtao Liu. Biomimetic KcsA channels enabled by 1D MOF-in-2D COF. Nature Communications. 2025, 16, 9099.
  • Qian Sun, Jingcheng Du, Ayan Yao, Yuting Zhang, Bizi Yu, Weiwang Lim, Shabi Ul Hassan, Jian Guan, Pengjia Dou, Jiangtao Liu. Tunable hydrated channels in covalent organic framework membrane for seawater desalination. ACS Nano. 2025, 19, 18409-18420.
  • Qian Sun, Ziye Song, Jingcheng Du, Ayan Yao, Linghao Liu, Wen He, Shabi Ul Hassan, Jian Guan, Jiangtao Liu. Covalent organic framework membranes with regulated orientation for monovalent cation sieving. ACS Nano. 2024, 18, 27065-27076.
  • Qian Sun, Jingcheng Du, Ziye Song, Ayan Yao, Linghao Liu, Ji Ma, Dong Cao, Wen He, Shabi Ul Hassan, Jian Guan, and Jiangtao Liu. Oriented 1D metal-organic frameworks for selective chemisorption by a substitution-insertion mechanism. Nano Letters. 2024, 24, 12783-12790.
  • Qian Sun, Yuting Zhang, Weiwang Lim, Bizi Yu, Jingcheng Du, Shabi Ul Hassan, Ayan Yao, Dong Cao, Ji Ma, Jian Guan, Jiangtao Liu. Oriented polyMOFs enabled by bridging coligand for CO2 separation. Nano Letters. 2025, 25, 2381-2387.
  • Qian Sun, Ziye Song, Hongzhi Liu, Jingcheng Du, Linghao Liu, Wen He, Tai-Shung Chung, Jiangtao Liu. Smart pH-responsive covalent organic framework membrane for charge-driven molecular sieving. Chemistry of Materials. 2023, 35, 7847-7858.
  • Qian Sun, Jingcheng Du, Linghao Wang, Ayan Yao, Ziye Song, Linghao Liu, Dong Cao, Ji Ma, Weiwang Lim, Wen He, Shabi Ul Hassan, Cailong Zhou, Jiangtao Liu. Smart superwetting COF membrane for controllable oil/water separation. Separation and Purification Technology. 2023, 317, 123825.

Education

  • 2022.9-2025.6 Ph.D. University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Environmental Science and Engineering, China
  • 2018.9-2021.6 M.Sc. University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Applied Chemistry, China
  • 2014.9-2018.6 B.Sc. Beijing Technology and Business University (BTBU), Chemistry, China

Professional Profile

  • 2026.5-Present Postdoc Water Desalination and Reuse Center (WDRC), Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia
  • 2025.7-2026.4 Postdoc Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), China

Awards

  • Mozi Allowance in USTC
  • Excellent Report in 2025 National Conference of Young Scientists in Membrane Technology
  • China National Petroleum Corporation Scholarship

KAUST Affiliations

  • Water Desalination and Reuse Center (WDRC)
  • Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division (BESE)

Research Interests Keywords

COF/MOF membranes Membrane-based separation technologies Adsorption separation Smart (responsive) materials Separation mechanisms