My research currently focuses on advanced recycling of plastics, degradation of packaging films, biodegradable material, green solvent design, microplastics/biofilm interfacial interactions, and sustainability analysis.

My lab is equipped with reactors for hydrothermal processing of plastic waste and biowaste, as well as characterizations for fuel/polymer products. In addition, my lab also has a license to a specialized software, Hansen Solubility Parameters in Practice (HSPiP), to study polymer dissolution/precipitation behavior, coating removal, polymer diffusion, and packaging failure mechanisms. Our research program contributes to the development of new multi-disciplinary materials on the topic of advanced recycling of plastics, biodegradable plastic materials, biofilm/microplastic interaction, and sustainability analysis. 

I am affiliated with American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), American Chemical Society (ACS), and American Society of Agricultural & Biological Engineers (ASABE). To date, I have published 30+ peer-reviewed articles, two book chapters, and one U.S. patent, with a total citation of 2500+ and an H-index of 24.

Before joining UMass Lowell, I had my postdoctoral training in the School of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University, working under the supervision of Professor Linda Wang. My postdoctoral research focused on upcycling of plastic waste.

I graduated from Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with my M.S. and Ph.D degree, working under the guidance of Professor Yuanhui Zhang. My graduate research devoted to developing a synergistically integrated waste-to-energy system, Environment-Enhancing Energy (E2-Energy), that simultaneously produces biofuel, treats wet biowaste and captures carbon dioxide via algae growing and hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL). In addition, upgrading of the HTL biocrude oil converted from biowaste into transportation fuels by distillation, esterification, and catalytic hydroprocessing was another focus of my graduate research program.