Weiwei Shi, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Material Science, Duke Kunshan University

Senior Research Scientist, Environmental Research Center

Fluid Mechanics/Dynamics, Bio-Inspired Materials/Interfaces, Special Wettability, Sustainable System

Shi has a B.S. and M.Eng. in Applied Chemistry from Beihang University (BUAA), Beijing, and a Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech, Virginia. She has published papers in leading academic journals including ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Advanced Materials Interfaces, Advanced Materials, and ACS Nano. Her research attracted much attention, featured in CNN, Boston Globe, Washington Post, etc., and highlighted by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science and Oak Ridge National Lab. Her invention got the finalist of U.S. Collegiate Inventors Competition, and fully patented. Additionally, she serves as Topic Editor of Micromachines, 2021-2023 and Guest Editor of Sustainability, 2021-2022. She also serves as peer reviewers for Journal of Vibroengineering, Journal of Measurements in Engineering, Journal of Thermal Science and Engineering Applications, Micromachines, Materials, Sustainability, etc.

CNN, April 2018, ‘Fog harp’ makes water out of thin air

Boston Globe, March 2018, Virginia Tech researchers unveil new method of fog harvesting to address global water shortages

Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, June 2020, Stabilizing Water Loss in Synthetic Trees

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, April 2019, Stabilizing Transpiration in Synthetic Trees

Kowalski, N. G., Shi, W., Kennedy, B. S., & Boreyko, J. B. (2021). Optimizing Fog Harps. Acs Applied Materials & Interfaces, 13(32), 38826–38834. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c08995
Eyegheleme, N. L., Shi, W., De Koninck, L. H., O’Brien, J. L., & Boreyko, J. B. (2021). Synthetic trees for enhanced solar evaporation and water harvesting. Applied Physics Letters, 118(25), 251601–251601. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0049904
Shi, W., Dalrymple, R. M., McKenny, C. J., Morrow, D. S., Rashed, Z. T., Surinach, D. A., & Boreyko, J. B. (2020). Passive water ascent in a tall, scalable synthetic tree. Scientific Reports, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-57109-z
Shi, W., De Koninck, L. H., Hart, B. J., Kowalski, N. G., Fugaro, A. P., van der Sloot, T. W., … Boreyko, J. B. (2020). Harps under Heavy Fog Conditions: Superior to Meshes but Prone to Tangling. Acs Applied Materials & Interfaces, 12(42), 48124–48132. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c12329
Shi, W., van der Sloot, T. W., Hart, B. J., Kennedy, B. S., & Boreyko, J. B. (2020). Harps Enable Water Harvesting under Light Fog Conditions. Advanced Sustainable Systems, 4(6), 2000040–2000040. https://doi.org/10.1002/adsu.202000040
Shi, W., Vieitez, J. R., Berrier, A. S., Roseveare, M. W., Surinach, D. A., Srijanto, B. R., … Boreyko, J. B. (2019). Self-Stabilizing Transpiration in Synthetic Leaves. Acs Applied Materials & Interfaces, 11(14), 13768–13776. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.9b00041
Shi, W., Anderson, M. J., Tulkoff, J. B., Kennedy, B. S., & Boreyko, J. B. (2018). Fog Harvesting with Harps. Acs Applied Materials & Interfaces, 10(14), 11979–11986. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.7b17488
Xu, T., Lin, Y., Zhang, M., Shi, W., & Zheng, Y. (2016). High-Efficiency Fog Collector: Water Unidirectional Transport on Heterogeneous Rough Conical Wires. Acs Nano, 10(12), 10681–10688. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.6b05595
Shi, W., Wang, L., Guo, Z., & Zheng, Y. (2015). Excellent Anti-Icing Abilities of Optimal Micropillar Arrays with Nanohairs. Advanced Materials Interfaces, 2(18), 1500352–1500352. https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.201500352
Wang, L., Zhang, M., Shi, W., Hou, Y., Liu, C., Feng, S., … Zheng, Y. (2015). Dynamic Magnetic Responsive Wall Array with Droplet Shedding-off Properties. Scientific Reports, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep11209
Zhang, M., Wang, L., Hou, Y., Shi, W., Feng, S., & Zheng, Y. (2015). Controlled Smart Anisotropic Unidirectional Spreading of Droplet on a Fibrous Surface. Advanced Materials, 27(34), 5057–5062. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201502143
Wang, L., Shi, W., Hou, Y., Zhang, M., Feng, S., & Zheng, Y. (2015). Droplet Transport on a Nano- and Microstructured Surface with a Wettability Gradient in Low-Temperature or High-Humidity Environments. Advanced Materials Interfaces, 2(9), 1500040–1500040. https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.201500040
Wang, H., You, T., Shi, W., Li, J., & Guo, L. (2012). Au/TiO2/Au as a Plasmonic Coupling Photocatalyst. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 116(10), 6490–6494. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp212303q
Xue, Y., Wang, T., Shi, W., Sun, L., & Zheng, Y. (n.d.). Water collection abilities of green bristlegrass bristle. Rsc Adv., 4(77), 40837–40840. https://doi.org/10.1039/c4ra06661h