Dr. Mengxia Xu’s current research interests align with the missions of ‘Carbon Neutrality’ and ‘Zero Waste City’, and specifically focus on areas of CO₂ utilization and upcyclying of hazardous/industrial waste, including:

• Electrochemical conversion of CO₂ to value-added chemicals
• Co-treatment of MSWI fly ash and alumina-/silica-containing waste (ASW) for green materials

PhD Opportunities

Currently, Dr. Xu is recruiting PhD students with full scholarship to carry out projects in one of the above research themes. 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 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─2025, 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─2024, 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 7 PhD students (6 as lead supervisor and 1 as co-supervisor) and has sucessfully supervised 3 MRes students (2 as lead supervisor) and 9 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 & Environmental Engineering at University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC). Prior to joining UNNC, he received his PhD from Zhejiang University and had several years of postdoc experience at Louisiana State University. 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 over 50 SCI papers, mostly in CAS Tier I/II journals, e.g., Appl. Catal. B, Chem. Eng. J., J. Energy Chem., Environ. Sci. Technol., and J. Hazard. Mater., etc. As a PI, he has been awarded a range of external research projects including NSFC,  Zhejiang Provincial Commonweal Project and Ningbo Natural Science Foundation.

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