Zhiling Zheng was a 4thyear Chemistry Ph.D. student in the research group of Professor Omar M. Yaghi, working on the synthesis and study of new metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) for atmospheric water harvesting. Before attending UC Berkeley, Zhiling received his B.A. in chemistry and chemical biology from Cornell University. In his free time, he loves traveling, hiking, exploring national parks, and shooting landscapes.
Water is an indispensable component of life, yet water scarcity has been one of the most significant long-term challenges facing society today. To date, several porous MOFs have been identified as candidate sorbents for direct atmospheric water harvesting and, among them, MOF-303 {[Al(OH)(PZDC)], where PZDC2- is 1H-pyrazole-3,5-dicarboxylate} was recently successfully deployed for harvesting moisture from the air. During his fellowship, Zhiling aimed to investigate how the multivariate strategy of making nanoscale MOFs provides a handle for controlling the hydrophilic nature of the pores and, consequently, the regeneration temperature and heat, as well as the humidity cut-off at which MOF-303 can operate.