Baron G Peters

Baron G Peters is the William H. and Janet G. Lycan Professor in the School of Chemical Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), with a joint appointment in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He serves as Director of Undergraduate Studies in his department. His research focuses on catalysis, nucleation, crystal growth, and polymer upcycling, employing molecular simulation and quantum chemistry techniques. Peters holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley (2004) and BS degrees in Mathematics and Chemical Engineering from the University of Missouri (1999).

Research Interests:

• Catalytic mechanisms for polymer depolymerization and upcycling
• Nucleation and crystal growth kinetics
• Population balance modeling for multiphase systems
• Antifreeze protein interactions with ice surfaces

Notable Achievements:

• Recipient of the 2019 CoMSEF Impact Award for contributions to molecular-level understanding of crystal nucleation
• Developed computational frameworks for predicting catalyst behavior on amorphous supports

Collaborations: Active in cross-disciplinary projects with industry and academic partners, including work on covalent organic frameworks and plastic recycling technologies. Supervised datasets include computational codes for nucleation modeling (e.g., 2025-GeWeatherspoonPeters-COFsPBM-codes).

Labs/Teams: Leads research groups focused on computational catalysis and sustainable polymer engineering within UIUC's chemical engineering department.