CAMEE - About Us

Mission and Vision

The mission of the Center for Advanced Materials for Energy and the Environment (CAMEE) is to leverage multi-disciplinary expertise to create new materials for clean energy production and conservation as well as for environmental remediation. Established in 2016, CAMEE is a strategic research center within the Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy.

In the areas of energy production and conservation, CAMEE focuses on the development of nanostructured thermoelectric semiconductors that are able to recover waste heat and convert it directly into electricity. More specifically, CAMEE researchers are experimenting with adding nanocrystals to the structure of thermoelectric semiconductors in order to significantly increase the materials' performance at high temperatures. By creating materials that can capture waste heat and turn it into useful electricity, CAMEE's research in energy has broad applications for a variety of processes including industrial manufacturing and automobile efficiency.

In the area of environmental remediation, CAMEE is developing materials that can be used for the efficient cleanup of toxic metals such as mercury, cadmium, and lead, and for the capture and storage of uranium from sources such as nuclear waste. By pioneering concepts in the design of such nanostructured materials, CAMEE's researchers are creating clean, cost-effective methods for protecting our environment.

Leadership

CAMEE's Director, Professor Mercouri Kanatzidis of Northwestern's Department of Chemistry and Chemist at Argonne National Laboratories, leads the center in its research efforts. Kanatzidis is the recipient of the ACS Morley Medal, Alfred Sloan Research Fellowship, Richard Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, National Science Foundation (NSF) Presidential Young Investigator Award, Beckman Young Investigator Award, Guggenheim Fellow, and the International Thermoelectric Society Outstanding Achievement Award. In 2016, Kanatzidis was the co-winner of the 2016 Eric and Sheila Samson Prime Minister's Prize for Innovation in Alternative Fuels for Transportation, the world’s largest monetary prize awarded in the field of alternative fuels. In 2022, Kanatzidis was named a 2022 Global Energy Prize Laureate for major advances made in solar energy conversion with the use of novel perovskite halides.