Post doctoral Researcher
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B.Sc. Environmental Chemistry, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China (July 2003)
Thesis: Effect of low-molecular-weight-organic-acids on the release of arsenic from a contaminated soil -
M.Sc. Environmental Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China (July 2006)
Theiss: Adsorption behaviors of Cu and Cd on phosphate modified hematite and goethite -
Ph.D. Molecular Environmental Geochemistry, Stony Brook University, New York, USA (Oct 2010)
Dissertation: Multiple nuclear solid state NMR investigation of phosphate uptake by aluminum (hydr)oxides
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I have broad research interests in chemical reactions at solid-water interface, with an emphasis on understanding the mechanism of adsorption behavior of environmental concentration chemicals (P, As, Ni, Zn) on soil minerals and the nature of surface reactivity of Fe(Al) hydroxides by spectroscopic techniques (solid state NMR, XAS, FTIR).
In the past four years at Stony Brook, I have worked on the bonding structure and molecular dynamics of phosphate adsorbed on aluminum hydroxides using mainly novel solid state NMR techniques. At Delaware, I will focus on another important interfacial phenomenon, surface precipitation. While most prior studies on surface sorption reactions have focused on surface complexation, surface precipitation and co-precipitation as critical mechanisms for heavy metals sequestration remain largely unexplored. In fact, first row transition metals (Ni, Co, Zn) would react with Al-rich soil minerals and form surface precipitates which have a metal-Al layer double layer structure or the ‘so called’ hydrotalcite-like structure. However, the mechanism of this surface precipitation phenomenon remains still unclear. My research at UD would like to use quick-scanning XAS technique to study the initial reaction kinetics of this surface precipitation process, with the purpose to find out the controlling factors and understand the structural evolution during the metal uptake. This research will improve the current understanding of metal speciation in contaminated soils and the bioavailability of heavy metals.
1. Wei Li, Wenqian Xu, John B. Parise, and Brian L. Phillips*, 2011. Formation of hydroxylapatite from co-sorption of phosphate and calcium by boehmite. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (Accepted)
2. Wei Li*, Andro-Marc Pierre-Louis, Kideok D. Kwon, James D. Kubicki, Daniel R Strongin, and Brian L. Phillips, 2011. Molecular level investigations of phosphate sorption on the corundum (α-Al2O3) surface by 31P solid state NMR, ATR-FTIR and quantum chemical calculation. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (In revision)
3. Wei Li*, Richard Harrington, Yuanzhi Tang, James D. Kubicki, Masoud Aryanpour, Richard J. Reeder, John B. Parise, and Brian L. Phillips, 2011. Differential pair distribution function investigation on structure of arsenate adsorbed on nanocrystalline γ-alumina. Environmental Science & Technology 45, 9687–9692.
4. Wei Li, Lei Luo, and Shuzhen Zhang*, 2011. Towards a molecular scale understanding of the chemistry of inorganic ions at environmental interfaces: Application of spectroscopic techniques. Progress in Chemistry 23, 2576-2587.
5. Sue-A Kang, Wei Li, Hyo Eun Lee, Brian L. Phillips, and Young J. Lee*. 2011. Phosphate uptake by TiO2: Batch studies and NMR spectroscopic evidence for multisite adsorption. Journal Colloid Interface Science 364, 455-461.
6. Jongsik Kim, Wei Li, Yunxu Ben Zhu, Brian L. Phillips, and Clare P. Grey*, 2011. Phosphate adsorption on the iron oxyhydroxides goethite (α-FeOOH), akaganeite (β-FeOOH), and lepidocrocite (γ-FeOOH): a 31P NMR study. Energy & Environmental Science 4, 4298-5035.
7. Wei Li, Jian Feng, Kideok Kwon, James D. Kubicki, and Brian L. Phillips*, 2010. Surface speciation of phosphate on boehmite (γ-AlOOH) determined from NMR spectroscopy. Langmuir 26, 4753–4761.
8. Debasis Banerjee, Sun Jin Kim, Wei Li, Haohan Wu, Jing Li, Lauren A. Borkowski, Brian L Phillips and John B. Parise*, 2010. Synthesis and structural characterization of a 3-D lithium based metal-organic framework showing dynamic structural behavior. Crystal Growth Design 10, 2801–2805
9. Young J. Lee, Peter W. Stephens, Yuanzhi Tang, Wei Li, Brian L. Phillips, John B. Parise, Richard J. Reeder*, 2009. Arsenate substitution in hydroxylapatite: Structural characterization of the Ca(PxAsO4)3OH solid solution. American Mineralogist 94, 666-675.
10. Wei Li, Shuzhen Zhang*, and Xiaoquan Shan, 2007. Surface modification of goethite by phosphate for enhancement of Cu and Cd adsorption. Colloids Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 293, 13-19.
11. Wei Li, Shuzhen Zhang*, Wei Jiang, and Xiaoquan Shan, 2006. Effect of phosphate on adsorption of Cu and Cd on natural hematite. Chemosphere 63, 1235-1241.
12. Shuzhen Zhang*, Wei Li, Xiaoquan Shan, Anxiang Lu and Peijiang Zhou, 2005. Effects of low molecular weight organic anions on release of arsenite and arsenate from a contaminated soil, Water Air Soil Pollution 167, 111-119.
13. Wei Li, Kenneth Livi, Wenqian Xu, Matthew Seibeker, and Donald L. Sparks, 2011. Observation of nano-crystalline Zn-Al LDH precipitates on aluminum oxide. Environmental Science & Technology (In preparation)
14. Paul J. Sideris, Wei Li, Brian L. Phillips, Clare P. Grey*, 2011. Solid state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction studies of phosphate-exchanged Mg/Al-layered double hydroxides. Chemistry of Material (In preparation)
15. Wei Li and Brian L. Phillips, 2011. Impact of environmental factors on phosphate sorption on aluminum (hydr)oxides: Molecular-level assessments using 31P solid state NMR spectroscopy. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (In preparation)
B: Published Conference Abstracts16. Wei Li and Donald L. Sparks, 2011. An investigation of the formation mechanism of Zn-Al LDH (layered double hydroxide) on γ-alumina. Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) annual meeting, San Antonio, TX. (Oral)
17. Matthew Siebecker, Wei Li, and Donald L. Sparks, 2011. An in situ real-time quick X-ray absorption spectroscopic (Q-XAS) investigation of Ni precipitation on Al-rich soil minerals. Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) annual meeting, San Antonio, TX. (Poster)
18. Wei Li, Yujun Wang, and Donald L. Sparks, 2011. Zn precipitation on nano-crystalline aluminum oxide. Delaware EPSCoR annual meeting, Dover, DE. (Poster)
19. Wei Li, Richard Harrington, Yuanzhi Tang, and Brian L. Phillips. 2010 Structures of arsenic adsorbed on nano-crystaline aluminum oxide as studied by extended X-ray absorption spectroscopy (EXAFS) and differential Pair Distribution Function investigation (d-PDF). The 6th International Conference on Interfaces Against Pollution (IAP2010), Beijing, China. (Oral)
20. Wei Li, Wenqian Xu, and Brian L. Phillips, 2010. Spectroscopic studies of the effect of calcium on phosphate uptake by boehmite. 239th ACS national meeting, San Francisco, CA. (Poster)
21. Sue-A Kang, Wei Li, Hyo Eun Lee, Brian L. Phillips, and Young J. Lee. 2010. Phosphate sorption on TiO2. 20th Annual Goldschmidt Conference on Geochemistry, Knoxville, TN. (Poster)
22. Wei Li, Yuanzhi Tang, Richard J. Reeder, and Brian L. Phillips, 2009. X-ray absorption spectroscopic and nuclear magnetic resonance studies of phosphate and arsenate sorption on gamma-Al2O3 surface. International Conference on the Environmental Implications and Applications of Nanotechnology. Amherst, MA. (Poster)
23. Wei Li, Jian Feng, and Brian L. Phillips, 2008. Using a double resonance NMR technique to study phosphate adsorption on boehmite (γ-AlOOH). 235th ACS national meeting, New Orleans, LA. (Oral)
24. Shuzhen Zhang, Wei Li, and Xiao-quan Shan, 2003. Arsenic solubility in a contaminated soil as affected by Low-molecular-weight-organic-acids. Society of Environmental Toxicology & Analytical Chemistry (SETAC) North America 24th Annual Meeting. Austin, TX. (Oral)
C: Proceedings25. Shuzhen Zhang, Wei Li, and Xiaoquan Shan, 2003, Arsenic solubility and speciation in a contaminated soil as affected by low molecular weight organic acids. 8th Chinese Chemical Society Annual Meeting in Analytical Chemistry, Guilin, China. (In Chinese)
26. Hong Shen, Wei Li, Jun Lin, and Peijiang Zhou, 2002. Kinetics studies on the effects of organophorus pesticides on the growth of Microcytis and their uptake on phosphorus speciation, Proceedings of the 8th Mainland-Taiwan Environmental Protection Conference, Xinzu, Taiwan. (In Chinese)
27. Xue Zhou, Yujuan Gao, Wei Li, Shiyang Shao, Qi Qi, Hong Shen, and Peijiang Zhou, 2002. Studies on the toxic effect of methyl-benzedrine on the growth of Microcytis. Proceedings of the 8th Mainland-Taiwan Environmental Protection Conference, Xinzu, Taiwan. (In Chinese)
Contact Information:
Plant and Soil Sciences
University of Delaware
152 Townsend Hall
Newark, DE 19716
Phone: 302 831-2505
Fax: 302 831-0605
e-mail: weili@udel.edu
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