Pei Chiu

Pei Chiu is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Delaware (UD) since 1996. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from National Taiwan University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University. His research focuses on contaminant transformation in natural and engineered systems, including degradation kinetics of organic chemicals like munitions compounds and redox properties of biochar. He has developed innovative wastewater treatment technologies using nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) and biochar, with one technology recognized by NASA as a Top Invention in 2007. Chiu held visiting professorships at ETH Zürich (2018) and was a DELAWARE Environmental Institute (DENIN) Faculty Fellow (2019–2020).

Education:

• B.S., Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University
• M.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University
• Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University

Research Interests:

• Contaminant fate and transformation in soils and groundwater
• Electron storage capacity of biochar and black carbon
• Engineered systems for pollution control and remediation
• Bioremediation and microbial interactions with carbon materials
• Advanced oxidation processes (e.g., Fenton, ZVI-based systems)

Awards:

• NSF CAREER Award (2000)
• Excellence in Teaching Award, UD College of Engineering (2003)

Technology Development: Chiu pioneered ZVI-sand filtration systems for pathogen and contaminant removal in water and pioneered biochar applications in nitrogen removal from stormwater. His work integrates fundamental redox chemistry with practical environmental engineering solutions.

Labs/Teams: His research group collaborates on projects involving biochar synthesis, redox-active materials design, and scale-up of remediation technologies for industrial and municipal applications.