CLSF

Director(s):

Daniel Cosgrove

Lead Institution:

Pennsylvania State University

Mission:

To dramatically increase our fundamental knowledge of the formation and physical interactions of bio-polymer networks in plant cell walls to provide a basis for improved methods for converting biomass into fuels.

Research Topics:

biofuels (including algae and biomass), bio-inspired, membrane, carbon sequestration, materials and chemistry by design, synthesis (self-assembly)

Materials Studied:

MATERIALS: polymer, cellulose, biological (DNA, protein), porous

INTERFACES: organic/organic, liquid/solid, solid/solid

NANOSTRUCTURED MATERIALS: 0D, 1D, 2D, 3D, nanocomposites

Experimental and Theoretical Methods:

X-ray diffraction and scattering, electron microscopy, scanning probe microscopy, surface science, neutron diffraction and scattering, molecular dynamics (MD), density functional theory (DFT), quantum mechanics, classical mechanics, continuum modeling, mesoscale modeling, finite element method, multiscale modeling, high-throughput screening methods