Center for Bio-Inspired Energy Science (CBES)

CBES Header

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
 

BES Staff Contact

Craig Henderson