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- PhD position - Understanding how green additives control crystallization at the nanoscale
Crystallization is a process that is central to many industrial processes (e.g. construction, desalination, functional materials). Small amounts of (organic) molecules are widely used to control the outcome of these processes. But, increasing environmental awareness and new regulations are pushing the industry to use sustainable additives. To develop efficient “green” crystallization modifiers a fundamental understanding of their modus operandi at the nanoscale is required.
This PhD project aims to correlate the physicochemical properties of additives with their functionality during crystallization, and to pinpoint how these molecules are incorporated into the emerging crystalline framework. To achieve this you will use in-situ time-resolved Pair Distribution Function analyses combined with potentiometric titration measurements, Small-Angle X-ray Scattering studies, as well as complementary confocal microscopy experiments to monitor the crystallization process in the presence of different types of (green) additives.
You will join ID15A team at the ESRF and the Geochemistry team at ISTerre (CNRS & Univ. Grenoble Alpes); you will also perform experiments at BASF laboratories in Germany. ID15A is the world’s most advanced high-energy X-ray scatterings instrument that enables in situ experiments of crystallization from diluted solutions. This project will push the boundaries of our understanding of additive controlled crystallization at the nanoscale.
Further information may be obtained from Marco Di Michiel (tel.: +33 (0) 476882123, email: dimichie@esrf.fr), from Alexander E.S Van Driessche (+33 (0) 476635194, email: alexander.van-driessche@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr), and from Alejandro Fernandez Martinez (+33 (0) 476635197, email Alex.Fernandez-Martinez@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr)
More details about the application procedure on www.innovaxn.eu/for-students/documents/
The successful candidate will be enrolled in the doctoral school of University Grenoble-Alpes and based full-time at the ESRF (Grenoble, France), other than a 3.5 month secondment at BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany). Additional visits totaling no more than 3 months may be made to the ISTerre (CNRS & University of Grenoble) when needed. Furthermore, a varied pedagogical training programme will be offered to the successful candidate throughout the 3-year PhD project.
More details on the InnovaXN programme on www.innovaxn.eu
InnovaXN is a Horizon 2020 MSCA COFUND programme providing an opportunity for 40 industrial companies to work with 40 PhD students, performing advanced research and exploiting the unique characterisation techniques of the ESRF and ILL. Through collaborations with industry, innovation will be the central theme of the programme. This will provide a unique cross academic-industry science setting, secondment opportunities and society-relevant research, training the future key researchers able to tackle major research and societal challenges.