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Washington State University
The Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering

Faculty & Staff

Hongfei Lin

Hongfei Lin Headshot 2019

Hongfei Lin, Ph.D.
Professor

Catalysis; CO2 capture and utilization; Waste plastic upcycling; Sustainable aviation fuel; Biobased chemicals and bioproducts;  Clean hydrogen and Long-duration energy storage

Office: 109 Wegner Hall 📞509-335-1341

Dr. Lin’s group website

The Gene and Linda Voiland
School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering
1505 Stadium Way, Room 105
P.O. Box 646515
Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164-6515

Postdoctoral Research Associates

Dr. Caiqi Wang

Graduate Students

Jim Floyd
Yue Zhao

Goals

The vision of Lin’s group is that a sustainable low-carbon economy will greatly benefit our society and environment.  The chemical industry is currently in the paradigm shift that needs the substantial replacement of fossil energy and feedstocks with renewable resources.  Therefore, our goal is to build a high-quality, internationally recognized “Catalysis for Sustainability” research laboratory to cultivate future leaders in emerging areas of sustainability.

Biographical Information

Dr. Lin received his B.E and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China and his Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA. He has been a postdoctoral fellow for two years in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, where his research was focused on developing advanced functional materials for catalysis and optoelectronics applications. He then worked in industry for three years conducting research on alternative energy including catalytic conversion of biomass to liquid hydrocarbon fuels, renewable hydrogen production, and catalytic transformation of natural gas to liquid fuels.

Dr. Lin’s current research activities are focused on coupling chemical processes with novel material systems for renewable energy and clean fuel production. In particular, the multifunctional heterogeneous catalysts are designed on a molecular level aiming to develop the highly efficient and cost-effective process of converting solid biomass to liquid transportation fuels or renewable chemicals. Furthermore, fundamental studies of advanced materials using modern characterization techniques are investigated to better control the catalytic process and to maximize the overall efficiency.

Education

  • Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
  • M.S. Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
  • B.S. Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Research News

Hongfei Lin with two of his students in the lab

$3.6 million DOE grant to support direct air carbon capture research

Dr. Lin’s group is conducting fundamental research in using ionic liquids, or liquid salts, to grab the carbon dioxide out of the air and catalytic processes to convert it into valuable chemicals.  Read More…

New technology converts waste plastics to jet fuel in an hour

Dr. Lin’s group has developed an innovative way to convert plastics to ingredients for jet fuel and other valuable products, making it easier and more cost effective to reuse plastics.  Read More…

NSF grant will support research to address waste plastics

The fundamental research aims to use catalytic processes to improve plastics recycling and to make it cost effective.  Read More…

Experi-mint: Eucalyptus as alternative to dense jet fuel

Dr. Lin and his team have developed a novel process for synthesizing dense jet fuel from mint, pine, gumweed, eucalyptus or other plants. Read more…