Charles M. Schroeder is the James Economy professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and professor in the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. He is Co-Chair of the Molecular Science and Engineering Theme and Leader of the AI for Materials (AIM) Group in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Professor Schroeder is a faculty member in the Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology and holds affiliate status in the Department of Chemistry, the Department of Bioengineering, the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, and the Materials Research Lab (MRL). He previously served as Associate Head in the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at Illinois. Before joining the University of Illinois in 2008, he was a Jane Coffin Childs Postdoctoral Fellow and a K99/R00 NIH postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University (2004-2007). 

Education

• B.S., chemical engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 1999

• M.S., chemical engineering, Stanford University, 2001

• Ph.D., chemical engineering, Stanford University, 2004

• 2023: American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow

• 2019: Ray & Beverly Mentzer Professor

• 2019: Society of Rheology Publication Award

• 2014: Center for Advanced Study, Beckman Fellow, University of Illinois

• 2013: Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award

• 2013: NSF CAREER Award, National Science Foundation

• 2013: Dean's Award for Excellence in Research, University of Illinois

• 2012: Arthur B. Metzner Early Career Award, Society of Rheology

• 2012: U.S. Frontiers of Engineering, National Academy of Engineering

• 2011: Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering

• 2008: Tomorrow's PIs, Genome Technology

Research areas:

• Single polymer dynamics

• Vesicle dynamics, biological membranes, microhydrodynamics & Stokes trap

• Automated synthesis for materials discovery

• Molecular electronics & bioelectronics

Research interests:

• Molecular engineering

• Soft materials

• Molecular rheology

• Single molecule biophysics

The cutting edge of chemical science research lies in the ability to manipulate and control single molecules. The Schroeder group has pioneered a unique and powerful brand of molecular engineering that allows for the precise design and characterization of single molecules, in problems ranging from polymer physics to molecular electronics. Imagine the ability to design and engineer new soft materials with any desired functional properties (e.g., electrical, optical, mechanical) by controlling chemical structure and composition at the molecular level. The Schroeder group aims to achieve this vision by understanding how form and function arise in soft materials given precise control over molecular synthesis, structure, and processing.

 A major unsolved problem in soft materials and rheology lies in understanding how the collective behavior of individual molecules gives rise to bulk properties in polymeric materials. To address this challenge, the Schroeder group has extended the field of single polymer dynamics to new materials including architecturally complex polymers such as rings and branched polymers. His work provides a molecular-level understanding of non-equilibrium polymer dynamics, bridging the gap between molecular behavior and bulk properties in polymeric liquids and solids. Recent work has focused on fully recyclable synthetic polymers using metastable chemistries.

Schroeder's group studies the non-equilibrium conformational dynamics of lipid vesicles and colloidal clusters using a Stokes trap, which is a new method developed by his group that allows for the precise trapping and manipulation of single molecules or particles using automated flow control. Understanding the dynamics of membrane-bound vesicles is critical for developing new and efficient drug delivery vehicles. His recent work has focused on understanding the non-linear deformation of lipid membranes in flow, including phase separation and dynamics of multi-component lipid membranes under tension. 

The Schroeder group uses automated synthesis to drive the discovery of new materials for applications including organic electronics and energy storage. A “Lego-like” building block approach is used to synthesize large libraries of chemically diverse, sequence-defined molecules via automated iterative Suzuki coupling (C-C coupling). Automated synthesis is also used in combination with AI-guided, closed-loop discovery methods for new materials, e.g., organic photovoltaics (OPVs) with improved photostability or new electrochromic molecules.

Electron transport in proteins is essential for fundamental life processes in living cells. Understanding these mechanisms at the molecular level remains an open challenge in the field. Recently, the Schroeder group has studied charge transport mechanisms in sequence-defined polymers, redox-active molecules, and supramolecular assemblies using single molecule techniques. His work is focused on bioelectronics by developing new sustainable materials for next-generation electronic devices, including self-assembled protein circuitry and conductive peptide nanowires.