Dr. Fadwa El Mellouhi
Senior Scientist
Dr. Fadwa El Mellouhi
Senior Scientist
Educational Qualifications
Doctor of Philosophy in Physics
Diploma in Condensed Matter Physics
Entity
Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute
Biography
Dr. Fadwa El Mellouhi received her PhD in Physics focused on Computational Materials Science from the Université de Montréal, Canada in 2006 followed by a strong and diversified university teaching and research experience. She also holds a diploma from the ICTP funded by the UNESCO-IAEA in 2001. After the completion of her PhD, she worked as postdoctoral researcher at Université de Montréal, Canada, then in 2010 she joined Texas A&M University at Qatar where she worked until 2014 as an Assistant Research Scientist. Since 2014, she has been working as a Senior Scientist at the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Doha, Qatar.
Dr. Fadwa is recognized for her excellent scientific research in the area of accelerating the materials' discovery for the decarbonization of the energy sector by using Computational Physics, Chemistry and Artificial Intelligence. Her research experiences have resulted into numerous internationally impactful outcomes, strengthened by collaboration with experimental groups from US universities such as Texas A&M University and National Labs such as ORNL and PNNL, as well as local industrial partners on key economic, energetic and environmental grand challenges aiming at lowering greenhouse emissions. Her research brings a lot of visibility and covers, but not limited to, the design of materials for solar energy conversion, energy storage, carbon capture and conversion, hydrogen production and storage, smart coatings to fight COVID-19 contaminations as well as corrosion. Her research makes a significant contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 (UN SDG 7) to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy.
Her research portfolio has resulted in being highly-impactful with cited research outcomes leading to an h-index of 27 with more than 400 citations/year over the past three years. This includes three patents, three copyrighted software solutions and 80 scientific publications with more than 20 publications in journals of impact factor of five or higher such as Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, Chemistry of Materials, Materials Horizons, and Energy Technology. Her work has also been recognized and awarded in renowned and specialized venues such as the HOPV-17 conference at Lausanne, Switzerland in 2017.
Having a solid experience with proposal writing, fund rising, reporting and grant management, she is currently involved with and leading several research projects. Over the past seven years, she has attracted as principal applicant, under a very competitive environment, a total funding exceeding 5.5 Million USD in addition to establishing multinational and multidisciplinary collaborations supported by cash co-funding from the likes of Shell, an oil and gas giant industry. As the principal applicant, she is currently managing active projects with external funds totaling 2 Million USD that will run beyond 2024 aiming at training students, researchers and producing transformative solutions. In one of her latest achievements, she was awarded a sub-project within a multinational/multidisciplinary cluster project (consortium) on the design of materials for the CO2 direct air capture and conversion.
During the past few years, she has developed a strong ability to define the methodology for conducting and disseminating research and for evaluating research results. She is currently teaching Physics to freshmen and involved in educating younger age students via mentoring and judging. She developed a fine research advising skillset that enabled her to train and supervise several postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, undergraduate summer students, high and middle school students. Her research experiences in Italy, Canada and Qatar made her an advocate of inclusion and promotor of diversity. As a female scientist in Computational Sciences, and pursuing an independent research program since 2010, her career path serves as an inspiration for young women in Africa and the Middle East, and will motivate them to pursue a career in Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Her current involvement in teaching and outreach in science is a reflection of her advocacy towards instructional excellence, outreach, and multiversity.
Doctor of Philosophy in Physics
University of Montreal, Montreal (Canada)
2006
Diploma in Condensed Matter Physics
The Abdus Salam ICTP (International Centre for Theoretical Physics) Trieste, Italy
2001
Master of Science
Computational Materials Science, Djillali Liabes University, Algeria
2000
Bachelor of Science
Djillali Liabes University, Algeria
1995
- Quantum Physics
- Quantum Chemistry
- Computer Aided Discoveries
- Data-driven Material design
- Machine Learning aided for Sustainable Materials Discovery
- Developing cutting-edge Materials Science and Nanotechnology research
Associate Professor (Visiting)
Texas A&M University at Qatar
2021 - Present
Senior Scientist
QEERI Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University
2014 - Present
Assistant Research Scientist
Texas A&M University at Qatar, Doha, Qatar
2012 - 2014
Postdoctoral Researcher
Texas A&M University at Qatar, Doha, Qatar
2010 - 2012
Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Montreal, Canada
2006 - 2010
Lecturer
Physics Department, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
Fall 2008
Lab Teaching Assistant
Physics Department, Université de Montreal, Montreal, Canada
Fall 2005, 2003, 2002, 2001
- Research Progress of Plasmonic Nanostructure-Enhanced Photovoltaic Solar Cells, Nanomaterials 12(5), 788 (2022); https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12050788 (IF 5.346)
- Insights on the effect of water content in carburizing gas mixtures on the metal dusting corrosion of iron, Applied Surface Science 579 (30) 152138 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2021.152138 (IF 6.122)
- Controlling surface chemistry of CO reactions on Fe surface by S blocking: A first-principles and microkinetic studies Applied Surface Science 571(1) 151216, (2022) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2021.151216 (IF 6.122)
- Resilient Women and the Resiliency of Science, Chemistry of Materials 33, 17, 6585–6588 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.1c02648 (IF 9.811)
- Oxide and Organic–Inorganic Halide Perovskites with Plasmonics for Optoelectronic and Energy Applications: A Contributive Review Catalysts 11(9) 1057 (2021) https://doi.org/10.3390/catal11091057 (IF 4.146)
- Accelerating the Design of Photocatalytic Surfaces for Antimicrobial Application: Machine Learning Based on a Sparse Dataset, Catalysts 11(8), 1001 (2021) https://doi.org/10.3390/catal11081001 (IF 4.146)
- The rise of Nb-, Ta-, and Bi-based oxides/chalcogenides for photocatalytic applications, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 47(5), 3358 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.05.145 (IF 5.748)
- Using Unstated Cases to Correct for COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak and Its Impact on Easing the Intervention for Qatar, Biology 10 (6), 463 (2021) https://doi.org/10.3390/biology10060463 (IF 3.796)
- Pressure effect on diffusion of carbon at the symmetric tilt grain boundary of -iron, Physical Review Materials 5 (4), 043605 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.5.043605 (IF 3.337)
- Data-driven Enhancement of Cubic Phase Stability in Mixed-cation Perovskites, Machine Learning: Science and Technology 2 025030 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1088/2632-2153/abdaf9 (IF NA)
- Capturing the Iron Carburization Mechanisms from the Surface to Bulk The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 124, 52, 28569–28579 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.9b05342 (IF 4.189)
- Machine Learning Accelerated Recovery of the Cubic Structure in Mixed-Cation Perovskite Thin Films, Chemistry of Materials 32, 7, 2998–3006, (2020) https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.9b05342 (IF 9.567)
- Searching for the rate determining step of the H2S reaction on Fe (110) surface, Applied Surface Science 532, 147470, (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2020.147470 (IF 6.122)
- Theoretical investigation of the structural, elastic, electronic, and dielectric properties of alkali-metal-based bismuth ternary chalcogenides, Physical Review Materials 4 (7), (2020). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.4.075401 (IF 3.335)
- Single crystal structure, vibrational spectroscopy, gas sorption and antimicrobial properties of a new inorganic acidic diphosphates material (NH4)2Mg(H2P2O7)2•2H2O, Scientific Reports 10, 8909 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-65718-2 (IF 4.011)
- Band gap tuning in aluminum doped two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride, Materials Chemistry and Physics, 250, 123176 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2020.123176 (IF 3.408)
- Importance of structural deformation features in the prediction of hybrid perovskite bandgaps, Computational Materials Science 184, 109858 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1021/ 10.1016/j.commatsci.2020.109858 (IF 2.292)
- Interlayer dielectric function of a type-II van der Waals semiconductor: The HfS2/PtS2 heterobilayer, Phys. Rev. Materials 3, 124002 (2019). (IF 3.335)
- Chalcogenide materials and derivatives for photovoltaic applications, Energy Technology 7, 11, 1900819 (2019) (IF 3.175)
- Oxychalcogenide-Perovskite Solar Cells: A Multiscale Design Approach, Energy Technology https://doi.org/10.1002/ente.201900766 (2019) (IF 3.175).
- Selective sodium-ion diffusion channels in Na2-xFe3(PO4)3 positive electrode for Na-ion batteries, Energy Storage (2019) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ensm.2019.07.040 (IF 3.940)
- Learn and Match Molecular Cations for Perovskites, The Journal of Physical Chemistry A 123, 33, 7323-7334 (2019) (IF 2.641) https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpca.9b06208
- Elucidating the role of extended surface defects at Fe surfaces on CO adsorption and dissociation, Applied surface Science 491, 792-798 (2019) (IF 5.115) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2019.05.278
- Intrinsic stability enhancement and ionic migration reduction by fluorinated cations incorporated in hybrid lead halide perovskites, J. Mater. Chem. C, 7, 5299-5306 (2019) (IF 5.976) https://doi.org/10.1039/C8TC06308G
- Enhancing the electronic dimensionality of hybrid organic–inorganic frameworks by hydrogen bonded molecular cations, Materials Horizons, 6, 1187-1196 (2019) (IF13.183) https://doi.org/10.1039/c8mh01436a
- Exploring new approaches towards the formability of mixed-ion perovskites by DFT and machine learning Physical Chemistry and Chemical Physics 21, 1078-1088 (2019) (IF 3.901) https://doi.org/10.1039/C8CP06528D
- Unveiling the First Nucleation and Growth Steps of Inorganic Solid Electrolyte Interphase Components J. Phys. Chem. C 122 (45), 25858-25868 (2018) (IF 4.536) https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b08398
- Benchmarking the performance of plane-wave vs. localized orbital basis set methods in DFT modeling of metal surface: a case study for Fe-(110) Journal of Computational Science 29, 163-167 (2018) (IF 1.925) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocs.2018.10.008
- Some recent developments on computational science and engineering Editorial Journal of Computational Science 28, 357-359 (2018) (IF 1.925) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocs.2018.08.006
- Understanding Ionic Diffusion through SEI Components for Lithium-Ion and Sodium-Ion Batteries: Insights from First-Principles Calculations Chem. Mater., 2018, 30, 3315−3322 (2018) (IF 9.466) https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.8b00635
- Searching for Photoactive Polymorphs of CsNbQ3 (Q = O, S, Se, Te) with Enhanced Optical Properties and Intrinsic Thermodynamic Stabilities J. Phys. Chem. C, 122 (16), pp 8814–8821 (2018) (IF 4.536) https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b01787
- Carbon diffusion paths and segregation at high-angle tilt grain boundaries in α-Fe studied by using a kinetic activation-relation technique Phys. Rev. B 97, 054309 (2018) (IF 3.075) https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.97.054309
- Improved photoactivity of pyroxene silicates by cation substitutions ChemPhysChem (2018) (IF 3.075) http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1002/cphc.201701155
- Design optimization of solar cell with molybdenum sulfide as light absorber Journal of Photonics for Energy 8 (2), 025501 (2018) (IF 2.287) https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JPE.8.025501
- Elucidating the Impact of Chalcogen Content on the Photovoltaic Properties of Oxychalcogenide Perovkskites NaMO3-xQx (M=Nb,Ta, and Q=S,Se,Te) ChemPhysChem 19 (6), 703-714 (2017) (IF 3.075) http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cphc.201701206
- Solar cells materials by design: Hybrid pyroxene corner-sharing VO4 tetrahedral chains ChemSusChem 10, 1931 – 1942 (2017)(IF 7.116) http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cssc.201700121
- Tuning the Solid Electrolyte Interphase for Selective Li and Na-ion Storage in Hard Carbon Advanced Materials 29, 1606860 (2017) (IF 15.23) http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.201606860
- Hydrogen Bonding: A Mechanism for Tuning Electronic and Optical Properties of Hybrid Organic – Inorganic Frameworks (NPJ computational ) 2 16035 (2016) http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npjcompumats.2016.35
- Hydrogen Bonding and Stability of Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Perovskites Chem Sus Chem 18, 2648 (2016) (IF 7.116) http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cssc.201600864
- Revealing the role of organic cations in hybrid halide perovskites CH3NH3PbI3 Nature Communications (IF 11.47) 6, Article number:7026 (2015) (doi:10.1038/ncomms8026)
- 2017 Most valuable Research Photovoltaics Portfolio member
Awarding Body: Qatar Environment & Energy Research Institute, HBKU - 2017 Best poster presentation award
Awarding Body: Organizing committee of International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV 17) Lausanne, Switzerland - 2015 Scientist of the year Award
Awarding Body: Qatar Environment & Energy Research Institute, HBKU - 2015 Thanaa award
Awarding Body: Qatar Environment & Energy Research Institute, HBKU - 2007 The Corbett Award for best 'Junior Scientist' contribution
Awarding Body: International committee of the 24th edition of the International Conference on Defects in Semiconductors, Albuquerque, USA (http://icds-2015.org/corbett-prize/)