Dr. Chunfei Wu is a Reader at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast. He obtained his MSc degree in School of Environmental Science and Engineering at Nankai University in China in 2007, and PhD degree in Chemical and Energy Engineering at the University of Leeds in 2010 under the supervision of Professor Paul T. Williams. He had around four-year Research Fellow experience at the University of Leeds before starting his Lectureship position at the University of Hull in 2014. He joined Queen’s University Belfast in 2018 as a Senior Lecturer. He has been involved as PIs and Co-Is of several projects funded by EU, EPSRC and Royal Society etc. He has published over 130 peer reviewed journal papers with an ‘h factor’ of 41 (Google Scholar) and over 4800 citations in the areas of catalytic thermo-chemical conversion of wastes. He is a Charted Scientist and a Member of Royal Society of Chemistry.

Advanced Biomass Gasification

We are interested in thermal chemical conversion of biomass wastes into syngas which can be used for heat and power generation, hydrogen and liquid fuel production. However, biomass gasification has a few key challenges including tar reduction, low energy efficiency, ash melting and low quality of syngas. We are developing a novel auto-thermal concept to use flue gas as gasification agent and CaO-CO₂ reaction for in-situ heat provision. Thus we aim to reduce the gasification temperature while keeping a high level of biomass gasification. More details can be seen in these two papers [Environmental Science and Technology 2019, 53:9298-9305; Fuel 2020, 277: 118199]

Carbon nanotubes production from waste plastics

Waste plastics can be thermal chemical converted into syngas through gasification using catalyst to enhance syngas production. However, coke deposition on the surface of reacted catalyst can not be prohibited. We work on the control of carbon formation during plastic gasification to produce high value multi-wall carbon nanotubes by optimizing process conditions and developing cost-effective catalysts. The produced CNTs have been added as fillers for polymer production to enhance mechanical strength.

Sorbent and catalyst development for carbon capture and conversion

We are interested in developing novel CaO- and MgO- based sorbents for carbon capture. Key challenges in this area include the understanding of mechanisms and the enhancement of the capacity and lifetime of carbon capture. We also work on the development of multifunctional catalysts to convert CO₂ into valuable products such as methane, CO and low olefins. The integrated carbon capture and utilisation (ICCU) can make both carbon capture and the utilisation of captured CO₂ happen at a same temperature avoiding the transportation of materials. It also has the potential to largely increase the efficiency of CO₂ conversion and overall process efficiency. More details can be seen from these papers [Journal of CO₂ Utilisation 2020, 38: 262-272; Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 2019; 244:63-75]

A full list of publications can be found on Google Scholar.

• Y Qiao, S Zhang, C Quan, N Gao, C Johnston, C Wu*. One-pot synthesis of digestate-derived biochar for carbon dioxide capture. FUEL 2020, 279:118525
• X Ou, C Wu, K Shi, C Hardacre, J Zhang, Y Jiao, X Fan. Structured ZSM-5/SiC foam catalysts for bio-oils upgrading. Applied Catalysis A: General 2020: 117626
• CMA Parlett, LJ Durndell, MA Isaacs, X Liu, C Wu. Ethanol Steam Reforming for Hydrogen Production Over Hierarchical Macroporous Mesoporous SBA-15 Supported Nickel Nanoparticles. Topics in Catalysis 2020, 63: 403-412
• S Zhang, N Gao, C Quan, F Wang, C Wu*. Autothermal CaO looping biomass gasification to increase process energy efficiency and reduce ash sintering. Fuel 2020, 277: 118199
• C Diyoke, C Wu*. Thermodynamic analysis of hybrid adiabatic compressed air energy storage system and biomass gasification storage (A-CAES+BMGS) power system. Fuel 2020, 271:117572
• H Sun, Y Zhang, S Guan, J Huang, C Wu*. Direct and highly selective conversion of captured CO₂ into methane through integrated carbon capture and utilisation over dual functional materials. Journal of CO₂ Utilisation 2020, 38: 262-272.
• X Gou, D Zhao, C Wu*. Catalytic conversion of hard plastics to valuable carbon nanotubes. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 145, 2020, 104748
• W Zhang, G Liu, J Jiang, Y Tan, Q Wang, C Gong, D Shen, C Wu. Temperature sensitivity of the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) performance of Ce-TiO₂ in the presence of SO₂. Chemosphere, 2019, 125419
• Yue Chai, Ningbo Gao, Meihong Wang, Chunfei Wu. H₂ production from co-pyrolysis/gasification of waste plastics and biomass under novel catalyst Ni-CaO-C. Chemical Engineering Journal 2020, 382:122947
• Zhang, Z., Ou, Z., Qin, C., Ran, J. & Wu, C. Roles of alkali/alkaline earth metals in steam reforming of biomass tar for hydrogen production over perovskite supported Ni catalysts, Fuel 2019, 257:116032
• Hongman Sun, Chunfei Wu*. Auto-thermal CaO looping biomass gasification for renewable syngas production. Environmental Science and Technology 2019, 53:9298-9305
• Hongman Sun, Jianqiao Wang, Xiaotong Liu, Boxiong Shen*, Christopher M. A. Parlett,* George O. Adwek, Edward J. Anthony,* Paul T. Williams* and Chunfei Wu*. Fundamental studies of carbon capture using CaO-based materials. Journal of Materials Chemistry A 2019, 11:9977-9987.

• Mr Yuan Zhu (2020) 
• Miss Yingrui Zhang (2020) 
• Miss Yuanyuan Wang (2020) 
• Miss Qi Huang (2019) 
• Mr Shuzhuang Sun (2019) 
• Miss Su He (2019) 
• Mr Shuming Zhang (2019) 
• Mr Chen Zhang (2019) 
• Mr Olusegun Adefami (2018) 
• Ms Yuanting Qiao (2017) 
• Ms Hongman Sun (2016-2020) 
• Miss Xiaotong Liu (2015-2019) 
• Mr Chidiebere Diyoke (2014-2018)