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The Wu Lab Alexandra Navrotsky Institute for Experimental Thermodynamics

The Wu Lab

Recent News

We are recruiting! Interested graduate student, postdoc and visiting scholar applicants, please contact us at: d.wu@wsu.edu

Cody B. Cockreham’s final paper to conclude his “MXenes Trilogy”, “Energetic Stability and Interfacial Complexity of Ti3C2Tx MXenes Synthesized with HF/HCl and CoF2/HCl as Etching Agents“, has been published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces in August, 2022. Great job!


Xianghui Zhang’s study co-advised by Drs. Su Ha and Di Wu, “Elucidating the Promoting Role of Mo2C in Methane Activation Using Ni-xMo2C/FAU to Catalyze Methane Steam Reforming“, has been published in Applied Catalysis B: Environmental in February, 2022. Congratulations!


Dr. Di Wu is recognized as one of the I&EC Research 2021 Class of Influential Researchers for his contributions in thermodynamics of materials applied in chemical engineering and energy industry. He is also featured in the “Futures” issue of AIChE Journal. See the WSU Insider news report below.

Di Wu recognized by two professional societies for research contributions


Our invited article for the Virtual Special Issue of I&EC Research 2021 Class of Influential Researchers, “Formation Energetics and Guest—Host Interactions of Molybdenum Carbide Confined in Zeolite Y“, has been accepted for publication in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research in September, 2021.


The article we were invited for the Special Issue of “AIChE Journal ‘Futures'”, on “Thermodynamics of Molybdenum Trioxide Encapsulated in Zeolite Y“, was published in AIChE Journal in September, 2021.


The members of AlexInstitute and The Wu Lab are honored with multiple awards! Cody Cockreham has received the VCEA Outstanding Research Assistant Award; Xianghui Zhang has been honored the GPSA Excellence Award as a Graduate Research Assistant, GPSA Dissertation Grant, and the The Melvin M. and Ruth M. Smith Scholarship. Congratulations!


Our new collaborative paper on confinement energetics of water & DMSO in kaolinite, “Energetics, Interlayer Molecular Structures, and Hydration Mechanisms of Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO)–Kaolinite Nanoclay Guest–Host Interactions“, is featured as the one of the covers in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters on October 7, 2021.



Cody Cockreham’s 4th paper as the first author, “Unveiling the Interfacial and Structural Heterogeneity of Ti3C2Tx MXene Etched with CoF2/HCl by Integrated In Situ Thermal Analysis“, has been accepted by ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces on August 2, 2021. More to come!


Esra Y. Mertsoy’s paper, “Thermodynamic, Thermal and Structural Stability of Bimetallic MIL-53 (Al1-xCrx)“, has been accepted by The Journal of Physical Chemistry C on May 24, 2021!


Our latest collaborative study, “Structure–Property–Energetics Relationship of Organosulfide Capture Using Cu(I)/Cu(II)-BTC Edited by Valence Engineering” with Prof. Hui Sun’s group at East China University of Science and Technology, has been accepted by Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research on December 15,  2020!


Cody’s third paper as the first author “Thermal Evolutions and Resulting Microstructural Changes in Kerogen-Rich Marcellus Shale”, has been featured as Cover of the Special Issue: Materials of the Universe: The Final Chemical Frontier in ACS Earth and Space Chemistry


Xianghui’s third paper “Determining the Hydration Energetics on Carbon-Supported Ru Catalysts: An Adsorption Calorimetry and Density Functional Theory Study”, in collaboration with the McEwen (WSU) and Chin (Univ. of Toronto) Groups, has been accepted by Catalysis Today


Congratulations! Cody Cockreham has been named as Seaborg Institute Research Fellow. He is going to work on a collaborative project between our group and Dr. Hongwu Xu’s group at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Here is the news on WSU Insider on April 16, 2020.


One collaborative study we involved in, led by Dr. Chelsea W. Neil at Los Alamos National Laboratory, has been published in Energy & Fuels Small-angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) Characterization of Clay- and Carbonate-rich Shale at Elevated Pressures”.


Congratulations to Xianghui for his second paper accepted by The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters in 2020! “Thermodynamics of Water–Cationic Species–Framework Guest–Host Interactions within Transition Metal Ion-Exchanged Mordenite Relevant to Selective Anaerobic Oxidation of Methane to Methanol”!


Our collaborative study, “In Situ Hydrothermal Conversion of Silica Gel Precursors to Binderless Zeolite X Pellets for Enhanced Olefin Adsorption” with Prof. Hui Sun’s group at East China University of Science and Technology, has been accepted by Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research on May 5, 2020.


Xianghui’s first paper as a first author “Energetic Cost for Being “Redox-Site-Rich” in Pseudocapacitive Energy Storage with Nickel – Aluminum Layered Double Hydroxide Materials” has been accepted for publication in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters on April 22, 2020.


Our collaborative paper on “He Irradiation‐Induced Lattice Distortion and Surface Blistering of Gd2Zr2O7 Defect‐Fluorite Ceramics” with Prof. Jianqi Qi’s group at Sichuan University, has been accepted for publication in Journal of the American Ceramic Society on January 20, 2020.


Our collaborative paper with Prof. Hui (Claire) Xiong’s group at Boise State University, “A Mechanistic Study of Mesoporous TiO2 Nanoparticle Negative Electrode Material with Varying Crystallinity for Lithium Ion Batteries”, has been accepted in Journal of Materials Chemistry A on January 19, 2020.


Our paper on “Real-time Monitoring of the Surface Acetone Enolization and Aldolization” with Prof. Yong Wang’s group at WSU, is featured as Inner Back Cover in Catalysis Science & Technology.


Cody’s second paper “Dehydration Pathway of CoF2·4H2O Revisited by Integrated Ex Situ and In Situ Calorimetric and Structural Studies” has been accepted for publication in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C on the last day of 2019. Happy New Year everyone!


It has been our greatest pleasure to host the academic visits of Prof. Jun Wang and Esra Yılmaz as visiting scholars during 2019! The paper they author jointly, “Hydration Energetics of a Diamine-appended Metal-Organic Framework Carbon Capture Sorbent“, has been accepted on December 8, 2019 by The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. Congratulations!


Our invited mini-review article with Prof. Hui Sun, “Recent Advances in Experimental Thermodynamics of Metal–Organic Frameworks” has been published in the December 2019 issue of Powder Diffraction.


Cody’s first paper “Inhibition of AlF3·3H2O Impurity Formation in Ti3C2Tx MXene Synthesis under a Unique CoFx/HCl Etching Environment” has been published in ACS Applied Energy Materials on October 24, 2019. Congratulations, Cody!


Our collaborative study, “Manipulating Oxidation States of Copper within Cu-BTC Using Na2S2O3 as a New Strategy for Enhanced Adsorption of Sulfide” with Prof. Hui Sun’s group at East China University of Science and Technology, has been accepted by Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research on September 27, 2019. Cheers!


On July 5, 2019, the new mineral “Navrotskyite” is named for Dr. Wu’s advisor, Dr. Alexandra Navrotsky.

“Navrotskyite is named for American physical chemist, geochemist and materials scientist Dr. Alexandra Navrotsky”; “Navrotskyite, K2Na10(UO2)3(SO4)9·2H2O, occurs underground in the Blue Lizard mine, Red Canyon, White Canyon District, San Juan County, Utah. Crystals of navrotskyite occur as thin tapered needles in radial sprays and as tightly intergrown aggregates resembling fiber optic bundles. The structure consists of [(UO2)(SO4)3]4– chains connected via a complex framework of K-O and Na-O polyhedra, which are closely related to the uranyl sulfate minerals fermiite, meisserite, and pseudomeisserite-(NH4). Navrotskyite is named for American physical chemist, geochemist and materials scientist Dr. Alexandra Navrotsky (born 1943).”

Our collaborative study, “Tuning n-Alkane Adsorption on Mixed-Linker Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8-90 via Controllable Ligand Hybridization: Insight into the Confinement from an Energetics Perspective” with Prof. Hui Sun’s group at East China University of Science and Technology, has been published in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research on June 27, 2019.


Our paper “Tuning Ni/Al Ratio to Enhance Pseudocapacitive Charge Storage Properties of Nickel – Aluminum Layered Double Hydroxide” has been published in Advanced Electronic Materials on June 11, 2019.


Dr. Wu is one of the Inaugural Associate Editor of International Journal of Ceramic Engineering and Science (IJCES), an open access interdisciplinary journal of The American Ceramic Society (ACerS) established in May 2019.


Our group at the ACS National Meeting Spring 2019.


Our collaborative paper with Prof. Jianqi Qi’s group at Sichuan University, “Defect-Fluorite Gd2Zr2O7 Ceramics under Helium Irradiation: Amorphization, Cell Volume Expansion, and Bubble Formation”, has been published in Journal of the American Ceramic Society on February 5, 2019.


New collaborative paper with Dr. Jun Lu’s group at Argonne National Laboratory, “Seeding Iron Trifluoride Nanoparticles on Reduced Graphite Oxide for Lithium-Ion Batteries with Enhanced Loading and Stability”, has been published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces on August 9, 2018.


A new paper, “Tuning the Catalytic Activity and Stability of Al–Ti Bimetallic Species Immobilized on MgO–Al2O3–SiO2 for 1-Decene Oligomerization“, in collaboration with Prof. Hui Sun’s group at at East China University of Science and Technology, has been published in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research on April 30, 2018.


Our new invited review paper, “Probing the Energetics of Molecule–Material Interactions at Interfaces and in Nanopores“, has been published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C on October 11, 2017.


Our laboratory and the Guo Research Group in the Department of Chemistry form the Alexandra Navrotsky Institute for Experimental Thermodynamics.