Professor John Zhu
Professor John Zhu is advancing important research into clean energy and greenhouse gas reduction to secure the future health of our planet.
A Professor of Chemical Engineering in the School of Chemical Engineering, Professor Zhu’s research interests and expertise include gas adsorption and separation, carbon nanotube membranes and molecular simulations.
Professor Zhu hopes to see his groundbreaking research applied in the areas of clean energy production and storage techniques as well as for air pollution control. His current projects include research into direct carbon fuel cells, hydrogen storage in mesoporous carbon-related composites and advanced plasma-assisted catalytic processes for hydrogen production, gas to liquid and air pollution control.
In 2007, Professor Zhu received a Queen Elizabeth II (QEII) Fellowship from the Australian Research Council. A key component of his QEII Fellowship project is the development of a carbon nanotube (CNT) membrane for gas separation. The novel technology will work like a sieve to separate high volumes of methane or carbon dioxide from other gases, making it crucial for greenhouse gas reduction. The methane captured by the membrane can be then be used as pipeline quality gas. This method is 100 times faster than other gas separation techniques, allowing it to be used in large-scale plants.
An internationally renowned academic, Professor Zhu is the recipient of a number of awards and prizes including a University of Queensland Foundation Research Excellence Award in 2007, an ARC Postdoctoral Fellowship from 2003 to 2005 and The University of Queensland Travel Award in 2000.
