Chris received his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley under the advisement of Professor Ting Xu in January 2021. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University in Professor Jarad Mason’s laboratory, in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, in January 2023. Chris is currently an assistant professor in the Nanoscience Initiative at the Advanced Science Research Center at CUNY. His lab broadly focuses on engineering materials based on confined macromolecules.

BS/MS, Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University, 2010-2015

PhD, Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 2015-2020

Postdoc, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 2021-2023.

The functionalities of macromolecules—such as proteins and synthetic polymers—are governed largely by their hierarchical structures and dynamics, which can change dramatically when macromolecules are confined in narrow spaces. Our research combines concepts from polymer science, protein science, and inorganic chemistry to carefully engineer the microenvironment of confined macromolecules and unlock materials with novel functionalities.

7. D. Erdosy*, M. Wenny*, J. Cho*, C. DelRe, R. Sanchez, Y. Peng, B. Polizzotti, and J. Mason. (*Co-first authors) “Microporous water with high gas solubilities.” Nature. Vol. 608, 712-718 (2022).

6. J. Kwon, C. DelRe, P. Kang, A. Hall, D. Arnold, I. Jayapurna, L. Ma, M. Michalek, R.O. Ritchie, and T. Xu. “Conductive ink with circular life cycle for printed electronics.” Advanced Materials. Vol. 34, 2202177 (2022).

5. C. DelRe, Y. Jiang, P. Kang, J. Kwon, A. Hall, I. Jayapurna, Z. Ruan, L. Ma, K. Zolkin, T. Li, C. Scown, R.O. Ritchie, T.P. Russell, and T. Xu. “Near-complete depolymerization of polyesters with nano-dispersed enzymes.” Nature. Vol. 592, 558-563 (2021).

4. C. DelRe, B. Chang, I. Jayapurna, A. Hall, A. Wang, K. Zolkin and T. Xu. “Synergistic enzyme mixtures to realize near-complete depolymerization in biodegradable polymer/additive blends.” Advanced Materials. Vol. 33, 2105707 (2021).

3. C. DelRe, C. Huang, T. Li, P. Dennis, E. Drockenmuller, and T. Xu. “Reusable enzymatic fiber mats for neurotoxin remediation in water.” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. Vol. 10, 44216-44220 (2018).

2. B. Panganiban, B. Qiao, T. Jiang, C. DelRe, M. Obadia, T. Nguyen, A. Smith, A. Hall, I. Sit, M. Crosby, P. Dennis, E. Drockenmuller, M. Olvera de la Cruz, and Y. Xu. “Random heteropolymers preserve protein function in foreign environments.” Science. Vol. 359, 1239-1243 (2018).

1. S. Simotwo*, C. DelRe*, and V. Kalra. (*Co-first authors) “Supercapacitor electrodes based on high-purity electrospun polyaniline and polyaniline-carbon nanotube nanofibers.” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. Vol. 8, 21261-21269 (2016).