Research / Areas of ResearchCatalysis and Reaction Engineering
The discipline of Catalysis and Reaction Engineering (CRE) seeks to control and understand the networks of reactions that occur in ‘reactors’ ranging from cellular compartments up to world-scale industrial facilities, and includes reactions may be activated by heat, light, electrical, or chemical energy. Because of this broad remit, CRE is interested in intricate biochemical pathways, pollution remediation, and the production of anything from fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals, to fuels, monomers, and polymers. CRE at Northwestern is highly interdisciplinary and often takes place in globally recognized, collaborative centers.
Research Areas
Our researchers study catalysts that may be small molecules, biological macromolecules, or solid materials, which harness light, electricity, or thermal energy as inputs. An important area of research is to understand how catalysts can work cooperatively or be arranged in space and time to carry out reactions with high selectivity or to synthesize molecules and materials with new properties. We also have strengths in the development of reactions for sustainable chemistry and in the modeling and synthesis of new catalysts and reaction environments, including engineered cellular environments, metal organic frameworks, single-site catalysts, and multicomponent oxides.
Faculty
Linda Broadbelt
Sarah Rebecca Roland Professor
Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Senior Associate Dean
Novel computational approaches to address hurdles facing the biomass industry in the transition to more sustainable fuels, chemicals and materials.
Jennifer Dunn
Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and (by courtesy) Mechanical Engineering
Director, Center for Engineering Sustainability and Resilience
Associate Director, Northwestern-Argonne Institute of Science and Engineering
Tobin Marks
Vladimir N. Ipatieff Professor of Catalytic Chemistry and Chemical and Biological Engineering and (by courtesy) Materials Science and Engineering
Fundamentals of catalysis by atom-precise materials and designed organometallics with specific interests in polymerization/depolymerization and selective oxidation.
Justin Notestein
Chair of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Designing and interrogating all types of catalysts and catalytic processes, especially for large scale chemical processes and novel applications in sustainability.
Linsey Seitz
Associate Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Electrocatalysis, in situ spectroscopy, dynamic catalyst materials, and reactor design towards renewable production of fuels and chemicals.
Krishna Shrinivas
Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and (by courtesy) Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics and Cell and Developmental Biology
Randall Snurr
John G. Searle Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Computational catalysis modeling, data science in catalysis, natural gas conversion, oxidation catalysis, catalytic destruction of toxic compounds.
Dayne Swearer
Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
The Swearer Lab combines nanophotonics with heterogeneous catalysis, develops operando spectroscopies, and works towards the electrification of reactions crucial to industry and society.
John Torkelson
Walter P. Murphy Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering
Developing and tuning reactions for the synthesis and deconstruction of sustainable and recyclable/upcyclable polymers and composites.
Danielle Tullman-Ercek
James N. and Nancy J. Farley Professor in Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship
Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Director, Master of Science in Biotechnology Program
Coupling modeling and experiments to explore the impact of enzyme sequestration and organization on biochemical reaction performance.
Courtesy
Ludmilla Aristilde
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering (by courtesy)
Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences (by courtesy)
Probing the heterogeneous catalysis of nutrient recycling by natural mineral oxides by coupling spectroscopic analyses with molecular simulations.
Omar Farha
Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professorship in Chemistry and (by courtesy) Chemical and Biological Engineering
Design and synthesis of catalysts supported on porous materials with atomically precise structures for energy-, environment- and national defense-related applications.
Kimberly Gray
Stanley F. Pepper Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering (by courtesy)
Environmental catalysis, including synthesis of photo-active materials for resource recovery and water/air treatment, as well as the unintended ecotoxicological impacts of nanomaterials.
Chad Mirkin
George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry, Materials Science and Engineering, and (by courtesy) Chemical and Biological Engineering and Biomedical Engineering
Director, International Institute for Nanotechnology
Mirkin develops nanomaterial megalibraries (>1 million features) for the high-throughput screening and discovery of energy-relevant catalysts.
Milan Mrksich
Henry Wade Rogers Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Professor of Chemistry
Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Studying and applying spatio-temporal organization in catalytic systems, including the use of microfluidic systems, patterned surfaces, and megamolecules for cascade reactions.
George Schatz
Professor of Chemistry and (by courtesy) Chemical and Biological Engineering
The Schatz group uses a density functional theory and molecular dynamics calculations to study catalytic reaction mechanisms.