Brian G. Trewyn

Research in the Trewyn group includes “all things porous.” The highly interdisciplinary research activities have us discussing and investigating new materials for drug delivery and controlled release systems, challenging electrocatalysis systems with methane and CO₂, heterogeneous catalysis for upcycling plastic wastes and pairing orthogonally active enzymes with nanoparticles or organometallic catalysts for multistep, cascade reactions. A collaborative appointment with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) also in Golden, CO, focuses on new sorbent and active materials for hydrogen and methane storage and carriers. We investigate novel synthetic routes to develop multifunctional organic and inorganic materials, expanding the repertoire of characterization techniques for porous materials, and exploring fundamental and applied studies for porous systems. Important environmental challenges like upcycling plastic and polymer wastes, capturing and mitigating perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and utilizing CO₂ are included in the portfolio of research interests we address in the Trewyn lab. Further developing the functionality of the porous materials in 3D printing and additive manufacturing is a new research focus area for the group. 

Education

• BS – University of Wisconsin – La Crosse – Chemistry and Microbiology
• PhD – Iowa State University – Inorganic Chemistry