Dr. Mengxia Xu’s research interests align with the missions of ‘Zero Waste City’ and ‘Carbon Neutrality’, and span across broad areas of clean energy conversion and utilization of solid wastes. His current research themes include:

• Co-processing of hazardous solid wastes (e.g., MSWI fly ash)
• Conversion of industrial solid wastes to green building materials
• Microwave-assisted conversion of organic solid wastes (e.g., sludge)
• Electrochemical conversion of CO₂ to value-added chemicals (e.g., C₂H₄)
• Development of catalysts for air pollution control (e.g., Hg⁰, NO_x and VOCs)

PhD/Research Associate Opportunities

Currently, Dr. Xu is recruiting PhD students with half (tuition fee waiver)/full (plus stipend) scholarship to carry out projects in one of the above research themes. Research Associate opportunities are also available for candidates who are keen to improve their research capabilities and apply a PhD scholarship afterwards at University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC). Students who have successful completed their PhD studies at UNNC will be awarded the Doctoral Degree from University of Nottingham (UK). For more information about the PhD/Research Associate positions, contact him directly at mengxia.xu@nottingham.edu.cn.

Recently Funded Research Projects

As Principle Investigator (PI)

• Research on Blast Furnace-based Technologies of Harmless Treatment and Resource Utilization of Fly Ash from Municipal Solid Waste Incineration, Zhejiang Provincial Commonweal Project, 2022─2024, 100,000 RMB
• Research on Key Technologies of Blast Furnace-based Co-Processing of Fly Ash from Municipal Solid Waste Incineration, Ningbo Commonweal S&T Key Programme, 2021─2024, 500,000 RMB
• Research and Development of Nitrogen Control Technology of Pyrolysis, Gasification and Combustion of Municipal Solid Waste. Subproject of Ningbo S&T Innovation 2025 Major Program, 2018─2022, 250,000 RMB
• Pollution Levels and Influencing Factors of Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals (EPFRs) on PM₅, Ningbo Natural Science Foundation, 2018─2021, 50,000 RMB

As Co-Investigator (Co-I)

• Production of Artificial Aggregate from Excavated Soil and Alkali-Activated Slag, Ningbo Commonweal Project, 2022─2024, 200,000 RMB
• Key Technologies for Controlled Release of CO₂ for Accelerated Curing of Cementitious Materials Using Porous Carriers, Ningbo Natural Science Foundation, 2021─2024, 50,000 RMB
• R&D of Technology and Equipment for Harmless Treatment and Resource Utilization of Pharmaceutical Sludge based on Microwave Pyrolysis and Catalytic Reforming, Zhejiang Provincial Key R&D Program, 2021─2023, 4,300,000 RMB
• Study on the Design, Controllable Synthesis and Mechanisms of Mercury-Sulfur Transfer Catalysts for Coal-Fired Flue Gas, National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), 2018─2020, 240,000 RMB

Apart from UG teaching (see the modules delivered below), Dr. Mengxia Xu is currently supervising 6 PhD students (3 as lead supervisor and 3 as co-supervisor) and has sucessfully supervised 2 MRes students (as lead supervisor) and 4 PhD students (as co-supervisor) to full completion.

• Process Engineering Principles (Code: CHEE1041, 2017─present)
• Separation and Particle Technology (Code: CHEE2051, 2016─present)
• Process Engineering Laboratories (Code: CHEE3042, 2017─present)

Short Biography

Dr. Mengxia Xu is currently an Associate Professor in Energy and Environmental Engineering at University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) and Deputy Director of Research Center for New Energy & Environmental Materials (CNEEM), Nottingham-Ningbo New Materials Institute. Prior to joining UNNC, he received his PhD from Zhejiang University and had several years of postdoc experience at Louisiana State University, USA. Dr. Xu is a Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA, UK), a member of American Chemical Society (ACS), an affiliated member of Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE, UK), and a member of Chinese Society of Environmental Sciences.

So far, Dr. Xu has published nearly 30 SCI papers, mostly in CAS Tier I/II journals, e.g., Environmental Science & Technology, Journal of Hazardous Materials,  Energy Conversion and Management, Energy, Fuel, Chemosphere, Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis and Applied Surface Science, etc. As a PI or core member, he has been awarded a range of external research projects with a cumulative funding amount over 6 million RMB, including NSFC, Zhejiang Provincial Key R&D Program and Zhejiang Provincial Commonweal Project.

Dr. Xu's Research Profile at Google Scholar: Click HERE