Di Wu, PhD

Research Interests

Di Wu is interested in the general topic of Thermodynamics of Materials. His research lies at the blurry interfaces between surface science, materials chemistry, nanogeoscience and nanotechnology. Using calorimetry as the unique tool, his group reveal the energetic landscape of materials and minerals, and investigate the fundamental guest – host interaction mechanisms at interfaces surfaces and in nanopores. His work advances chemical and materials industries by enabling stable materials and heterostructures for alternative and sustainable energy, petrochemical conversion, environmental remediation, and nanomedicine. The specific research focuses include,

• Confinement Chemistry: encapsulation and intercalation
• Adsorption Calorimetry
• Porous Materials: zeolites, metal–organic frameworks, and mesoporous oxides
• 2D, Layered, and Electrochemical Materials: layered double hydroxides (LDHs), graphene and MXenes
• Ceramics: A2B2O7, perovskite, carbides and nitrides
• Catalytic Material Characterization
• Geochemistry: mineral hydration, kerogen, shale rocks, clays and natural zeolites

Biographical Information

Di Wu earned his B.S. from Zhejiang University, China in 2006, M.S. from the University of Akron in 2008, and Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis in 2012, all in Chemical Engineering. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Peter A. Rock Thermochemistry Laboratory and NEAT ORU at the University of California, Davis from 2013. In the summer of 2016, he joined the Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering at Washington State University as an Assistant Professor.

Education

• Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, University of California, Davis – Davis, CA, 2012
• M.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Akron – Akron, OH, 2008
• B.S. Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University – Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, 2006

Professional Experience

• Founding Director – Alexandra Navrotsky Institute for Experimental Thermodynamics, Washington State University, 2017–present
• Assistant Professor – Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, Washington State University, 2016–present
• Affiliate Assistant Professor – Department of Chemistry, Washington State University, 2016–present
• Affiliate Assistant Professor – Materials Science and Engineering Program, Washington State University, 2016–present
• Postdoctoral Fellow – Peter A. Rock Thermochemistry Laboratory and NEAT ORU, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 2013–2016

Membership in Professional Organizations

• American Chemical Society
• American Geophysical Union
• American Institute of Chemical Engineers
• American Society for Engineering Education
• Geological Society of America
• Mineralogical Society of America

Selective Publications

1. G. Li, X. Zhang, D. Qiu, C. Yang, C. B. Cockreham, Z. Liu, B. Wang, L. Fu, J. Zhang, B. Sudduth, X. Guo, H. Sun, Z. Huang, J. Qi, J. Sun, S. Ha, Y. Wang, D. Wu, “Tuning Ni/Al Ratio to Enhance Pseudocapacitive Charge Storage Properties of Nickel – Aluminum Layered Double Hydroxide”, Adv. Electron. Mater. 2019, 5 (8), 1900215.
2. Z. Huang, N. Ma, J. Qi, X. Guo, M. Yang, Z. Tang, Y. Zhang, Y. Han, D. Wu, T. Lu “Defect-Fluorite Gd2Zr2O7 Ceramics under Helium Irradiation: Amorphization, Cell Volume Expansion, and Bubble Formation”, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 2019, 102 (8), 4911-4918.
3. D. Qiu, C. Zhan, L. Fu, J. Lu, D. Wu, “Seeding Iron Trifluoride Nanoparticles on Reduced Graphite Oxide for Lithium-Ion Batteries with Enhanced Loading and Stability”, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2018, 10 (35), 29505-29510.
4. H. Sun, X. Lei, J. Tan, Z. Sun, X. Han, J. Liu, B. Shen, X. Zhang, X. Guo, D. Wu, “Tuning the Catalytic Activity and Stability of Al−Ti Bimetallic Species Immobilized on MgO−Al2O3−SiO2 for 1‐Decene Oligomerization”, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2018, 57 (19), 6664-6672.
5. G. Li, H. Sun, H. Xu, X. Guo, D. Wu, “Probing the Energetics of Molecule – Material Interactions at Interfaces and in Nanopores”, J. Phys. Chem. C 2017, 121 (47), 26141-26154. (Invited Review Featured as Journal Front Cover)
6. L. Fu, H. Yang, Y. Hu, D. Wu, A. Navrotsky, “Tailoring Mesoporous γ-Al2O3 Properties by Transition Metal Doping: A Combined Experimental and Computational Study”, Chem. Mater. 2017, 29, 1338-1349.
7. N. Liu, X. Guo, A. Navrotsky, Li Shi, D. Wu, “Thermodynamic Complexity of Sulfated Zirconia Catalysts”, J. Catal. 2016, 342, 158-163.
8. H. Sun, D. Wu, K. Liu, X. Guo, A. Navrotsky, “Energetics of Alkali and Alkaline Earth Ion-exchanged Zeolite A”, J. Phys. Chem. C 2016, 120 (28), 15251-15256.
9. D. Wu, X. Guo, H. Sun, A. Navrotsky, “Energy Landscape of Water and Ethanol on Silica Surfaces”, J. Phys. Chem. C 2015, 119 (27), 15428-15433.
10. D. Wu, X. Guo, H. Sun, A. Navrotsky, “Thermodynamics of Methane Adsorption on Copper HKUST-1 at Low Pressure”, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2015, 6 (13), 2439-2443.
11. D. Wu, A. Navrotsky, “Probing the Energetics of Organic – Nanoparticle Interactions: Ethanol on Calcite”, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2015, 112, 5314-5318.
12. D. Wu, A. Navrotsky, “Thermodynamics of Metal – Organic Frameworks”, J. Solid State Chem. 2015, 223, 53-58. (Invited Review)
13. D. Wu, T. M. McDonald, Z. Quan, S. V. Ushakov, P. Zhang, J. R. Long, A. Navrotsky, “Thermodynamic Complexity of Carbon Capture in Alkylamine-Functionalized Metal – Organic Frameworks”, J. Mater. Chem. A 2015, 3, 4248-4254.
14. H. Sun, D. Wu, X. Guo, B. Shen, J. Liu, and A. Navrotsky, “Energetics of Confinement of Hexane in Ca – Na Ion Exchanged Zeolite A”, J. Phys. Chem. C 2014, 118 (44), 25590-25596.
15. Z. Quan, D. Wu, J. Zhu, W. H. Evers, J. M. Boncella, L. A. Siebbeles, Z. Wang, A. Navrotsky, H. Xu, “Energy Landscape of Self-Assembled Superlattices of PbSe Nanocrystals”, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2014, 111, 9054-9057.
16. D. Wu, S. Hwang, S. I. Zones, and A. Navrotsky, “Guest – Host Interactions of a Rigid Organic Molecule in Porous Silica Frameworks”, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2014, 111, 1720-1725.
17. D. Wu, A. Navrotsky, “Small Molecule – Silica Interactions in Porous Silica Structures”, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 2013, 109, 38-50.
18. D. Wu, J. J. Gassensmith, D. Gouvêa, S. Ushakov, J. F. Stoddart, A. Navrotsky, “Direct Calorimetric Measurement of Enthalpy of Adsorption of Carbon Dioxide on CD-MOF-2, a Green Metal – Organic Framework”, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135 (18), 6790-6793.