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Dr Di He

Dr Di He

Research Associate

PhD (ANU), B.E (Hon) (ANU)

UNSW Canberra
School of Eng & Tech

I obtained my PhD degree at the Australian National University where I investigated novel recycling strategies to improve the reuse potential and environmental performance of recycled carbon fibre in the automotive industry. During my PhD, I worked at the Research and Innovation Centre of Ford Motor Company in the U.S. to develop and evaluate the use of recycled materials in vehicle production. As a Research Associate at UNSW Canberra, I am now researching the dynamic impacts of technological transitions such as electrification, lightweighting and shared mobility on the auto material flows and the sustainability aspects of the vehicle fleet. I am broadly passionate about research that enhances sustainability and circular economy in the rapidly transforming manufacturing sector.
E-mail
di.he@unsw.edu.au
  • Book Chapters | 2025
    He D; Pang I; Doolan M, 2025, 'Reducing the Down-Cycling of Carbon Fibre: An Observation on Preserving Different Woven Fibre Architectures', in , pp. 818 - 826, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-77429-4_91
  • Journal articles | 2025
    He J; Zhang C; Yang Y; Kang J; Zhang C; He D; Ma J, 2025, 'Chlorine-Mediated Ammonia and Organics Transformation during Electrochemical Ammonia Recovery from Human Urine', Environmental Science and Technology, 59, pp. 13096 - 13107, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5c04984
    Journal articles | 2025
    Song Y; Gu X; He D, 2025, 'Experimental study and molecular dynamics simulation:Thermal behaviors, volatile products and chlorine migration characteristics during pyrolysis and combustion of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid waste salt', Journal of Environmental Management, 382, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.125277
    Journal articles | 2025
    Wang P; He D; Xiao Z; Zhao J; Jin Q; Ma X; Ma J; Zheng M, 2025, 'Dual sludge system driven NDFO-Feammox coupling: Optimization of the iron cycling network for sustainable and efficient nitrogen removal', Water Research, 286, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2025.124186
    Journal articles | 2025
    Yang Z; Liang Y; Ma X; Xu F; Jin Q; He D, 2025, 'Mechanistic insight into pH-dependent degradation of chelated heavy metals by UV/H2O2: Cu(II)-EDTA and Ni(II)-EDTA', Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 13, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2025.119454
    Journal articles | 2025
    Zhong Q; Gong W; Wang G; Xie J; Zhao J; Jin Q; Ma X; Wang Z; He D, 2025, 'Unravelling molecular transformation of dissolved organic matter in UV/Dichloroisocyanurate, UV/Chlorine, and UV/Chloramine processes using high resolution mass spectrometry', Separation and Purification Technology, 379, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2025.135032
    Journal articles | 2025
    Zhong Q; Zhang Z; Zhou H; Li X; Yang Z; He D, 2025, 'Insight into Cl2•−-dominated degradation of pharmaceuticals in high-salinity wastewater: Radical contributions, oxidation byproducts and toxicity evaluation', Separation and Purification Technology, 353, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2024.128285
    Journal articles | 2024
    He D; Keith DR; Kim HC; De Kleine R; Anderson J; Doolan M, 2024, 'Materials Challenges in the Electric Vehicle Transition', Environmental Science and Technology, 58, pp. 12297 - 12303, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c09042
    Journal articles | 2024
    Li X; He D; White RG; Delhaize E; Ryan PR; Ingvordsen CH; Scafaro AP; Atkin OK; Wasson A; Richards R, 2024, 'Reduced tillering and dwarfing genes alter root traits and rhizo-economics in wheat', Physiologia Plantarum, 176, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ppl.14336
    Journal articles | 2024
    Wang P; Tan J; Xiao Z; Xu F; Jin Q; He D, 2024, 'New insights and enhancement mechanisms of activated carbon in autotrophic denitrification system utilizing zero-valent iron as indirect electron donors', Bioresource Technology, 410, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2024.131237
    Journal articles | 2024
    Zou J; Peng D; Hu W; Su S; Wang X; Zhao Z; Wang S; He D; Li P; Zhang J, 2024, 'All-element recovery and regeneration of mixed LiNixCoyMn1−x−yO2/LiFePO4 cathode materials by synergistic redox processes', Chemical Communications, 60, pp. 1778 - 1781, http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d3cc05563a
    Journal articles | 2023
    Deng G; Wang Z; Ma J; Jiang J; He D; Li X; Szczuka A; Zhang Z, 2023, 'Ferryl Ion in the Photo-Fenton Process at Acidic pH: Occurrence, Fate, and Implications', Environmental Science and Technology, 57, pp. 18586 - 18596, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c06373
    Journal articles | 2023
    He D; Kim HC; Sommacal S; Stojcevski F; Soo VK; Lipiński W; Morozov E; Henderson LC; Compston P; Doolan M, 2023, 'Improving mechanical and life cycle environmental performances of recycled CFRP automotive component by fibre architecture preservation', Composites Part A Applied Science and Manufacturing, 175, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2023.107749
    Journal articles | 2023
    Yang Z; Ma X; Zhou H; Ma J; Ding Y; He D, 2023, 'Chelated heavy metals removal by in-situ formed Fe(II) and Fe(III) iron (oxy)hydroxides: Mechanism and performance', Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 11, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2023.110531
    Journal articles | 2023
    Zhang J; Zou J; He D; Hu W; Peng D; Li Y; Zhao Z; Wang S; Li P; Su S; Ma K; Wang X, 2023, 'Molten salt infiltration-oxidation synergistic controlled lithium extraction from spent lithium iron phosphate batteries: an efficient, acid free, and closed-loop strategy', Green Chemistry, 25, pp. 6057 - 6066, http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d3gc00116d
    Journal articles | 2022
    He D; Kim HC; De Kleine R; Soo VK; Kiziltas A; Compston P; Doolan M, 2022, 'Life cycle energy and greenhouse gas emissions implications of polyamide 12 recycling from selective laser sintering for an injection-molded automotive component', Journal of Industrial Ecology, 26, pp. 1378 - 1388, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13277
    Journal articles | 2022
    Zhang JF; Hu W; Zou J; Wang X; Li P; Peng D; Li Y; Zhao R; He D, 2022, 'Directional High-Value Regeneration of Lithium, Iron, and Phosphorus from Spent Lithium Iron Phosphate Batteries', ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 10, pp. 13424 - 13434, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c03997
    Journal articles | 2020
    He D; Soo VK; Kim HC; Compston P; Doolan M, 2020, 'Comparative life cycle energy analysis of carbon fibre pre-processing, processing and post-processing recycling methods', Resources Conservation and Recycling, 158, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104794
    Journal articles | 2020
    He D; Soo VK; Stojcevski F; Lipiński W; Henderson LC; Compston P; Doolan M, 2020, 'The effect of sizing and surface oxidation on the surface properties and tensile behaviour of recycled carbon fibre: An end-of-life perspective', Composites Part A Applied Science and Manufacturing, 138, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2020.106072
    Journal articles | 2020
    Sun H; Xie G; He D; Zhang L, 2020, 'Ascorbic acid promoted magnetite Fenton degradation of alachlor: Mechanistic insights and kinetic modeling', Applied Catalysis B Environmental, 267, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2019.118383
    Journal articles | 2019
    Tang W; Liang J; He D; Gong J; Tang L; Liu Z; Wang D; Zeng G, 2019, 'Various cell architectures of capacitive deionization: Recent advances and future trends', Water Research, 150, pp. 225 - 251, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2018.11.064
    Journal articles | 2017
    Huang X; He D; Tang W; Kovalsky P; Waite TD, 2017, 'Investigation of pH-dependent phosphate removal from wastewaters by membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI)', Environmental Science Water Research and Technology, 3, pp. 875 - 882, http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c7ew00138j
    Journal articles | 2017
    Tang W; He D; Zhang C; Kovalsky P; Waite TD, 2017, 'Comparison of Faradaic reactions in capacitive deionization (CDI) and membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) water treatment processes', Water Research, 120, pp. 229 - 237, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2017.05.009
    Journal articles | 2017
    Tang W; He D; Zhang C; Waite TD, 2017, 'Optimization of sulfate removal from brackish water by membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI)', Water Research, 121, pp. 302 - 310, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2017.05.046
    Journal articles | 2016
    He D; Ma J; Collins RN; Waite TD, 2016, 'Effect of Structural Transformation of Nanoparticulate Zero-Valent Iron on Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species', Environmental Science and Technology, 50, pp. 3820 - 3828, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b04988
    Journal articles | 2016
    He D; Ma X; Jones AM; Ho L; Waite TD; He D, 2016, 'Mechanistic and kinetic insights into the ligand-promoted depassivation of bimetallic zero-valent iron nanoparticles', Environmental Science Nano, 3, pp. 737 - 744, http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c6en00071a
    Journal articles | 2016
    He D; Wong CE; Tang W; Kovalsky P; David Waite T, 2016, 'Faradaic Reactions in Water Desalination by Batch-Mode Capacitive Deionization', Environmental Science and Technology Letters, 3, pp. 222 - 226, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.6b00124
    Journal articles | 2016
    Ma J; He D; Collins RN; He C; Waite TD, 2016, 'The tortoise versus the hare - Possible advantages of microparticulate zerovalent iron (mZVI) over nanoparticulate zerovalent iron (nZVI) in aerobic degradation of contaminants', Water Research, 105, pp. 331 - 340, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.09.012
    Journal articles | 2016
    Ma J; He D; Tang W; Kovalsky P; He C; Zhang C; Waite TD; He D; He C, 2016, 'Development of Redox-Active Flow Electrodes for High-Performance Capacitive Deionization', Environmental Science and Technology, 50, pp. 13495 - 13501, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b03424
    Journal articles | 2016
    Sun B; Dong H; He D; Rao D; Guan X, 2016, 'Modeling the Kinetics of Contaminants Oxidation and the Generation of Manganese(III) in the Permanganate/Bisulfite Process', Environmental Science and Technology, 50, pp. 1473 - 1482, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b05207
    Journal articles | 2016
    Tang W; Kovalsky P; Cao B; He D; Waite TD, 2016, 'Fluoride Removal from Brackish Groundwaters by Constant Current Capacitive Deionization (CDI)', Environmental Science and Technology, 50, pp. 10570 - 10579, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b03307
    Journal articles | 2015
    Collins RN; jones AM; waite ; He D; Ma X, 2015, 'Reductive Reactivity of Borohydride- and Dithionite-synthesized Iron-based Nanoparticles: A Comparative Study', Journal of Hazardous Materials, 303, pp. 101 - 110, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2015.10.009
    Journal articles | 2015
    Guan X; Sun Y; Qin H; Li J; Lo IMC; He D; Dong H, 2015, 'The limitations of applying zero-valent iron technology in contaminants sequestration and the corresponding countermeasures: The development in zero-valent iron technology in the last two decades (1994-2014)', Water Research, 75, pp. 224 - 248, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2015.02.034
    Journal articles | 2015
    Ma J; Wang Z; He D; Li Y; Wu Z, 2015, 'Long-term investigation of a novel electrochemical membrane bioreactor for low-strength municipal wastewater treatment', Water Research, 78, pp. 98 - 110, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2015.03.033
    Journal articles | 2015
    Qiu S; He D; Ma J; Liu T; Waite TD, 2015, 'Kinetic Modeling of the Electro-Fenton Process: Quantification of Reactive Oxygen Species Generation', Electrochimica Acta, 176, pp. 51 - 58, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2015.06.103
    Journal articles | 2015
    Tang W; Kovalsky P; He D; Waite TD, 2015, 'Fluoride and nitrate removal from brackish groundwaters by batch-mode capacitive deionization', Water Research, 84, pp. 342 - 349, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2015.08.012
    Journal articles | 2015
    Zhang J; Ren W; An P; Pan Z; Wang L; Dong Z; He D; Yang J; Pan S; Tian H, 2015, 'Responses of crop water use efficiency to climate change and agronomic measures in the semiarid area of Northern China', Plos One, 10, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0137409
    Journal articles | 2014
    He D; Kacopieros M; Ikeda-Ohno A; Waite TD, 2014, 'Optimizing the design and synthesis of supported silver nanoparticles for low cost water disinfection', Environmental Science and Technology, 48, pp. 12320 - 12326, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es502804a
    Journal articles | 2014
    He D; Miller CJ; Waite TD, 2014, 'Fenton-like zero-valent silver nanoparticle-mediated hydroxyl radical production', Journal of Catalysis, 317, pp. 198 - 205, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2014.06.016
    Journal articles | 2014
    Xu J; Li C; Liu P; He D; Wang J; Zhang Q, 2014, 'Photolysis of low concentration H2S under UV/VUV irradiation emitted from high frequency discharge electrodeless lamps', Chemosphere, 109, pp. 202 - 207, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2014.01.065
    Journal articles | 2014
    Xu J; Li C; Zhang Q; He D; Liu P; Ren Y, 2014, 'Destruction of toluene by the combination of high frequency discharge electrodeless lamp and manganese oxide-impregnated granular activated carbon catalyst', International Journal of Photoenergy, 2014, http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/365862
    Journal articles | 2013
    He D; Bligh MW; Waite TD, 2013, 'Effects of aggregate structure on the dissolution kinetics of citrate-stabilized silver nanoparticles', Environmental Science and Technology, 47, pp. 9148 - 9156, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es400391a
    Journal articles | 2013
    He D; Ikeda-ohno A; Boland DD; Waite D, 2013, 'Synthesis and characterization of antibacterial silver nanoparticle- impregnated rice husks and rice husk ash', Environmental Science and Technology, 47, pp. 5276 - 5284, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es303890y
    Journal articles | 2012
    He D; Dorantes-Aranda JJ; Waite TD, 2012, 'Silver nanoparticle-algae interactions: Oxidative dissolution, reactive oxygen species generation and synergistic toxic effects', Environmental Science and Technology, 46, pp. 8731 - 8738, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es300588a
    Journal articles | 2012
    He D; Garg SK; Waite TD, 2012, 'H 2O 2-mediated oxidation of zero-valent silver and resultant interactions among silver nanoparticles, silver ions, and reactive oxygen species', Langmuir, 28, pp. 10266 - 10275, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/la300929g
    Journal articles | 2011
    He D; Jones AM; Garg S; Pham AN; Waite TD, 2011, 'Silver nanoparticle-reactive oxygen species interactions: Application of a charging-discharging model.', Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 115, pp. 5461 - 5468
    Journal articles | 2011
    Jones AM; Garg S; He D; Pham AN; Waite TD, 2011, 'Superoxide-Mediated Formation and Charging of Silver Nanoparticles', Environmental Science and Technology, 45, pp. 1428 - 1434, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es103757c
    Journal articles | 2010
    Guan X; He D; Ma J; Chen G, 2010, 'Application of permanganate in the oxidation of micropollutants: A mini review', Frontiers of Environmental Science and Engineering in China, 4, pp. 405 - 413, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11783-010-0252-8
    Journal articles | 2010
    He D; Guan X; Ma J; Yang X; Cui C, 2010, 'Influence of humic acids of different origins on oxidation of phenol and chlorophenols by permanganate', Journal of Hazardous Materials, 182, pp. 681 - 688, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2010.06.086
    Journal articles | 2010
    Yan M; He D; Zhang P; Zhou XJ; Chen WT, 2010, '[Inflammatory factors promote oral squamous cell carcinoma cells metastasis, via nuclear factor kappa B signal pathway in vitro]', Zhonghua Kou Qiang Yi Xue Za Zhi Zhonghua Kouqiang Yixue Zazhi Chinese Journal of Stomatology, 45, pp. 146 - 151
    Journal articles | 2009
    He D; Guan X; Ma J; Yu M, 2009, 'Influence of different nominal molecular weight fractions of humic acids on phenol oxidation by permanganate', Environmental Science and Technology, 43, pp. 8332 - 8337, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es901700m
    Journal articles | 2007
    Zhao Z; Cui F; Zhang Z; Gao H; He D, 2007, 'The optimization experimental investigation of PAC against the source of songhua river polluted by nitrobenzene', Shenyang Jianzhu Daxue Xuebao Ziran Kexue Ban Journal of Shenyang Jianzhu University Natural Science, 23, pp. 134 - 137
  • Conference Papers | 2025
    He D; Keith DR; Kim HC; Kleine RD; Doolan M, 2025, 'Sustainability impacts of the dynamic interaction between vehicle electrification and lightweighting', in Procedia CIRP, pp. 368 - 373, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2024.12.038
    Conference Papers | 2025
    Pang I; He D; Newman B; Henderson L; Doolan M, 2025, 'Decoupling the contributing factors to material degradation during carbon fibre recycling', in Procedia CIRP, pp. 243 - 248, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2025.01.053
    Conference Papers | 2022
    He D; Compston P; Morozov E; Doolan M, 2022, 'Reducing down-cycling of carbon fibre by fibre architecture preservation: Multi-layer fibre surface quality investigation', in Procedia CIRP, pp. 637 - 641, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2022.02.106
    Conference Papers | 2021
    He D; Soo VK; Kim HC; Doolan M, 2021, 'Life Cycle Primary Energy Demand and Greenhouse Gas Emission benefits of vehicle lightweighting with recycled carbon fibre', in Sangwan KS (ed.), Procedia CIRP, Elsevier, INDIA, Jaipur, pp. 43 - 48, presented at 28th CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering-CIRP LCE, INDIA, Jaipur, 10 March 2021 - 12 March 2021, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2021.01.003
    Conference Papers | 2019
    He D; Soo VK; Stojcevski F; Compston P; Doolan M, 2019, 'The effect of fibre surface treatments during CFRP production on the tensile strength of recycled carbon fibres', in Iccm International Conferences on Composite Materials

  • 2021: Recipient of the LEO Award for the Best Paper at the 28th CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering

In the Media:

  • He, D (2020, August 18). Deakin University researchers create recycled carbon fibre surfboard start-up as solution to landfill problem. ABC NEWS. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-16/recycled-surfboards-a-solution-to-carbon-fibre-waste-landfill/12545020
  • He, D (2021, August 23). Riding and recycling | Carbon fibre and the environment. Flow Mountain Bike. Retrived from https://flowmountainbike.com/features/riding-recycling-carbon-fibre-environment/
  • He, D (2019, October 21). What’s all the racquet about recycling carbon fibre? Australian National University. Retrived from https://cecc.anu.edu.au/news/whats-all-racquet-about-recycling-carbon-fibre