Center for Bio-Inspired Energy Science (CBES)

Director
Samuel Stupp
Lead Institution
Northwestern University
Class
2009-2022; Known as the Non-equilibrium Energy Research Center (NERC) from 2009 - 2014.
Mission
To develop the next frontier in soft materials relevant to energy challenges by designing structures that emulate functions we see in biological systems.
Research Topics
catalysis (homogeneous), catalysis (heterogeneous), electrocatalysis, solar (fuels), bio-inspired, hydrogen and fuel cells, mesoscale science, mesostructured materials, synthesis (novel systems), synthesis (self-assembly), synthesis (predictive), synthesis (scalable processing)
Systems Studied
Systems: polymer, porous
Interfaces: organic/inorganic, organic/organic, gas/liquid
Nanostructured: 0D, 1D, 2D, 3D
Experimental and Theoretical Methods
X-ray diffraction and scattering, X-ray spectroscopy, molecular dynamics (MD), density functional theory (DFT), monte carlo (MC), finite element methods, continuum modeling, mesoscale modeling, multiscale modeling, machine learning, data science

Partner Institutions
- Columbia University
- Harvard University
- New York University
- Northwestern University
- University of Michigan
- University of Pittsburgh