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Associate Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Delaware
344B DuPont Hall
Newark, DE 19716
Email: pei@ce.udel.edu
Phone: (302) 831-3104
Fax: (302) 831-3640
Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, 1996
M.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, 1990
B.S., Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, 1987
Dr. Chiu’s research is concerned with the fate of refractory pollutants in natural and engineered environments. Through better understanding of the chemical and microbial transformation of pollutants, engineering solutions and management strategies can be developed to better address environmental contamination problems.
Dr. Chiu’s group has been studying the reductive transformation of chlorinated and nitrogenous chemicals including toxic solvents and explosives, many of which are prevalent contaminants. These chemicals can be degraded through electron transfer reactions mediated by halorespiring microorganisms and by elemental and ferrous iron species. These processes are critical for the restoration of contaminated groundwater, which provides almost half of the nation’s drinking water.
Through collaboration with other UD researchers, Dr. Chiu investigates how black carbon nano particles catalyze the redox transformation of organic pollutants in reducing environments, such as in subsurface and sediments. He is also in the process of developing a zero-valent iron-based technology that can eliminate viruses and bacteria from drinking water at high efficiency.
After receiving his Ph.D. from Stanford University, Dr. Chiu was a post-doctoral fellow for six months at Stanford before coming to the University of Delaware in 1996.