Events Calendar

Astani CEE Seminar

Speaker: Xing Xie, Stanford University

Talk Title: Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology for Environmental Applications

Abstract: Advanced materials and nanotechnology are powerful tools that have been changing our lives dramatically. However, we are still facing very challenging environmental issues, such as water contamination, air pollution, and climate change. To tackle these environmental issues, my research focuses on applying advanced materials and nanotechnology to enhance the performance of existing environmental technologies, and to develop new technologies that can provide better solution to various environmental issues. In this presentation, I will introduce two different environmental applications. One is about nano-enhanced microbial electrochemical cells for wastewater treatment and energy recovery. I have developed 3D bio-electrodes for microbial electrochemical cells with superior performance. I also have invented a new microbial electrochemical device, named “microbial battery”, achieving higher than 30% energy efficiency. The other application is about nano-assisted new technologies for efficient water disinfection. In one example, strong electric field generated near the tips of nanowire structures is applied to kill bacteria and viruses in water. Removal efficiencies higher than 6-log have been achieved with retention times less than one second. In another example, water disinfection is realized by employing silver nanoscavengers, which are nanodisks with magnetic cores and silver capping layers. The silver nanoscavengers can be separated from treated water effectively after treatment and reused for thousands of times.

Biography: Xing Xie received his B.S. (2006) and M.S. (2008) degrees from Tsinghua University, and he is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University and a Henry Fan Fellow supported by the Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowship. His research mainly focuses on applying advanced materials and nanotechnology for environmental applications. He has worked on many projects related to microbial electrochemical cells, water disinfection, water reuse, algae control, mixing entropy batteries, electrochemical capacitors, and Li-ion batteries. He has published more than 20 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals, including PNAS, Nature Communications, Nano Letters, Energy & Environmental Science, and ACS Nano. He received the Larry C. K. Yung Fellowship in 2008-2009, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship in 2009-2011, and the Graduate Student Award in Environmental Chemistry from the American Chemical Society in 2012.

Host: Astani CEE Department

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Cassie Cremeans