Center for Direct Catalytic Conversion of Biomass to Biofuels (C3Bio)

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Director

Maureen McCann

Lead Institution

Purdue University

Year Established

2009

Mission

To master the ability to reconfigure all partially reduced carbon from plant cell walls into desired molecules.

Research Topics

catalysis (homogeneous), catalysis (heterogeneous), biofuels (including algae and biomass), separations, mesostructured materials, materials and chemistry by design, synthesis (novel materials).

Materials Studied

Materials: polymer, cellulose, biological (DNA, protein)

Interfaces: organic/organic, organic/metal, gas/solid, liquid/solid, solid/solid

Nanostructured Materials: 3D, nanocomposites

Experimental and Theoretical Methods

X-ray diffraction and scattering, X-ray imaging, X-ray spectroscopy, electron microscopy, scanning probe microscopy, molecular dynamics (MD), density functional theory (DFT), quantum mechanics, mesoscale modeling, multiscale modeling

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Partner Institutions

  • National Renewable Energy Laboratory
  • Northeastern University
  • Purdue University
  • University of California, Santa Barbara
  • University of Tennessee

BES Staff Contact

Robert Stack