Welcome to the Feng Group at Duke!

We are Actively recruiting 4 PhD Students and 1 Postdoc Starting in 2025

We are an interdisciplinary research team in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science / Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University. Our mission is to develop innovative materials and mechanisms to address pressing global challenges in energy, climate, and health. 

We have 3 directions in the group:

1. Carbon Capture and Removal: The climate crisis is reshaping how we harvest, store, and consume energy globally. The pressing issue of climate change, driven largely by anthropogenic CO₂ emissions, continues to be a global challenge. In 2023, global carbon emissions reached an all-time high, surpassing 40 billion tons, with nearly 37 billion tons attributed to fossil fuel combustion. However, current technologies, primarily relying on adsorbents or aqueous solutions, demand significant energy input for regeneration, representing a major hurdle for large-scale implementation. Our group at Duke is dedicated to tackling grand challenges in environmental sustainability by working at the intersection of materials science, photochemical and electrochemical processes, and polymer science and engineering to capture and remove CO₂ from complex and often dilute mixtures. We will use fundamental chemistry principles to develop novel techniques that aid in a fair transition to a net-zero carbon future, providing access to efficient, climate-friendly energy management.
2. Critical Materials, Metals, and Minerals: Our work draws inspiration from biological systems to develop innovative solutions for capturing and utilizing critical materials, metals, and minerals directly from water. We've developed a novel pumping mechanism for the active adsorption of ions, leading to the discovery of an entirely new adsorption method called active mechanisorption. This breakthrough offers a platform for non-equilibrium physical chemistry at surfaces, enabling potential water remediation and the extraction of critical minerals from low- to high-concentration regions. We also explore the applications of porous materials based on critical metals such as Yttrium, lanthanides, actinides, Titanium, and Zirconium in cooperative or switchable adsorption and their potential for applications such as water adsorption, carbon capture, and gas storage.
3. Bioinspired Soft Matter: Learning from nature, our project seeks to develop molecular systems that replicate the intricate synthesis and high-fidelity mechanisms seen in biological processes, such as those driven by ribosomes. Unlike traditional synthetic chemistry, which depends on passive, thermodynamically driven methods, our molecular machines are engineered to actively and precisely position molecules during the pumping stage. By emulating the complex molecular assembly and sequencing observed in nature, we aim to design and fabricate novel bioinspired soft matter with innovative behaviors for applications in self-assembly, drug delivery, and antibacterial solutions.

Explore our research projects here.

Spring Semester: ME 331 Thermodynamics (with a theme on the Energy and Sustainability): This course will cover fundamental principles of thermodynamics, while also addressing the critical role they play in tackling today’s global energy challenges. 

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Fall Semester: ME 490/555 Carbon Capture and Utilization: Join us for an in-depth look into cutting-edge Negative Carbon Emissions technologies geared towards Climate and Sustainability!

Collaborate with Us: Discover Research Opportunities with the Feng Group at Duke University

Are you passionate about creating a cleaner and more sustainable world? Join us in our mission to make a difference. Learn more about the Active Adsorption, PI (Biosketch), our research projects, publications, and opportunities to collaborate by exploring our website.