The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) was built with the mission to rekindle the Islamic world with Science and to advance knowledge in areas of direct interest to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, namely Water, Food, Energy and the Environment. These four research thrusts are well-suited for Carbon materials given the track-record of their usage in water filters, disposable food packaging, electrodes for batteries and sponges for oil recovery, to name a few.

Located on the ground floor of the Ibn Sina Building (a.k.a. building 3), the Laboratory for Carbon Nanostructures (LCN) was custom-built to serve the needs of a research group dedicated to Carbon materials. The facility is divided into three main sections: the Wet Lab, the Characterization Room, and the Reactors Room. Accordingly, the entire workflow from synthesis to characterization and testing of Carbon (nano)materials can be processed locally resulting in minimal feedback time between different lab members and project tasks. Added to this, numerous other equipment and expertise are available at the university’s Core Labs, Research Centers, and Business Park. These can further extend our reach beyond the development of novel Carbon-based materials by potentiating applications in Center-specific research themes and accelerating the lab-to-industry transition.

At the LCN, we contribute to drive forward the state-of-the-art in Carbon Science and Technology. Investigating topics that span from atom-resolved lattice response under stress to the inclusion of Carbon black in concrete, we aim to launch the seeds for the better batteries, building materials and other Carbon-based products that our children will use.