Major Research Projects
Institute for Catalysis in Energy Processes
The Institute for Catalysis in Energy Processes (ICEP) is a long-running fundamental catalysis science research effort administered by CCSS. It is currently funded by the Department of Energy Basic Energy Sciences, Catalysis Science program under grant DE-FG02-03-ER154757. A common thread over more than 20 years of work is a desire to gain a molecular-level understanding of catalytic processes enabled by atom-precise catalyst syntheses. Argonne National Laboratory has been an important partner, both as a formal partner and through informal collaborations. Research topics have included photocatalysis, emissions catalysis, biomass conversion, and many others. A current emphasis is on selective oxidation technologies.
Institute for Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics
The Institute for Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics (iCOUP), led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory, is an Energy Frontier Research Center. It is a multi-institutional team consisting of scientists from Ames Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, UC Santa Barbara, University of South Carolina, Cornell University, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. iCOUP is determined to transform discarded single-use plastics into more valuable products, providing the economic incentive to transform used plastics into renewable resources.
Joint Center for Energy Storage Research
CCSS partners with the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR) at Argonne National Laboratory to develop clean energy storage technologies. The partnership seeks more affordable, efficient, and environmentally benign alternatives to lithium-ion batteries, with recent work into the viability of hybrid batteries with a magnesium metal anode.