Research
Interest
Microorganisms and minerals interplay in the biogeochemical environment. Microbes obtain nutrients, energy and other benefits from minerals for their physiological needs; concurrently, for instance, dissolution and precipitation of minerals (e.g. Fe-, Mn-oxides) are enhanced by these microbial activities. The microbe-mineral interactions impose profound influences on environmental quality and biogeochemical elemental cycling.
My research interests mainly focus on biogenic Mn-oxides and their inorganic analogues, i.e. investigating their crystal structures, mineral phase transformation and heavy metal sorption and oxidation on their surfaces. In addition to conventional wet chemistry, a variety of state-of-the-art techniques have been applied in my research, such as X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, atomic pair distribution function (PDF), quantum chemical computation, High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HR-TEM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR).
Contact Information
Plant
and Soil Sciences
152 Townsend Hall
Newark, DE 19716
(302) 831-1230
(302) 831-0605 (FAX)
mzhu@udel.edu
Curriculum vitae
Education
Ph.D. student, Environmental Engineering, 9/2005-6/2006
Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ
M.S. Environmental Sciences, 9/2002-7/2005 Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China
B.E. Environmental Engineering, 9/1998 – 7/2002
North China Electric Power University, Baoding, Hebei, China
Awards and Scholarships
Graduate Student Travel Award, University of Delaware, 2009
Graduate Scholarship Award, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, 2004 and 2005
Merit Student Award, North China Electric Power University, China, 1999, 2000, and 2001
Award of National College Contest in Mathematical Modeling, China, 2000 |
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Ph. D. Graduate Student
Journal Publications
Zhu M., et al., 2009, Ni(II) Sorption on Biogenic Mn-oxides Formed at Different pH, Environmental Science and Technology, submitted.
Zhu M. et al., 2009, Cation Effects on the Vacancy Site and Mn(III) Amount in Layered Biogenic Mn-Oxides, Environmental Science and Technology, submitted.
Feng X.H., Zhu M., et al.,2009, Formation of Nano-Crystalline Todorokite-like Phase from Biogeni Mn(IV) Oxide, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta., in Revision
Zhu M. et al., 2009, Quantum Chemical Study of As(III,V) Adsorption on Mn-oxides: Implications for As(III) Oxidation, Environmental Science and Technology, 43 (17):6655
Zhu M. et al., 2005, Quantum Chemical Studies of Mononuclear Zinc Species of Hydration and Hydrolysis, Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 109 (33):7648
Zhu M. et al., 2005. Zn (II) Adsorption and Precipitation at the g-MnOOH-Water Interfaces: DFT and XANES Calculation Studies. Acta Phisico-chemica Sinica, 21(12):1378 (in Chinese)
Zhu M. et al., 2005. EXAFS Studies of Zn (II) Adsorption and Precipitation on g-MnOOH Surface under Different pH Conditions. Acta Phisico-chemica Sinica, 21(10):1169 (in Chinese)
Conference Presentations
Zhu M. et al., 2009, pH Effects on the Structure of Biogenic Mn-oxides, 237th American Chemistry Society National Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah, March 22-26. Oral presentation
Zhu M. et al., 2008, Quantum Chemical Modeling of Arsenic (III,V) Adsorption and Oxidation on Manganese Oxides. 236th American Chemistry Society National Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 17-21. Oral presentation
Zhu M. et al., 2008, pH-induced Structural Change in Biogenic Mn(IV)-oxides. 236th American Chemistry Society National Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 17-21. Poster presentation
Zhu M. et al., 2007, Effects of Environmental Conditions on the Properties of Biogenic Manganese Oxides, ASA-CSSA-SSSA 2007 International Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 4-8. Oral presentation
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