We have a number of opportunities as part of a large project that aims to provide the scientific foundation that will allow the UK consumer chemical sector to become sustainable and carbon neutral. The consumer chemical industry makes products that go into cosmetics, vitamins and health supplements, soaps, detergents, household chemicals, perfumes and foods. While some steps have already been taken to make this sector more sustainable, the use of virgin petrochemicals and other non-sustainable and/or polluting feedstocks remains prevalent. The project will develop routes to synthesise (and recycle) feedstock chemicals that do not depend on virgin petrochemicals. These new materials will not only need to be sustainable and carbon neutral, they also need to offer high performance, be cost effective to produce in bulk quantities and must not have long-term persistence in the environment after use. This will require new catalysts and catalytic processes.
PDRA (structural characterisation of heterogeneous catalysts for net-zero products)
Applications are invited for an ambitious researcher with a strong track record in the synthesis and evaluation of heterogeneous catalysts. You will work within an interdisciplinary team of researchers to develop new heterogeneous catalysts and evaluate them in the transformation of CO2 to C8-C18 alcohols. You will have a PhD in chemistry or chemical engineering, a strong publication record, a pro-active approach and strong expertise in gas phase catalysis testing and in catalyst synthesis and characterisation. The post is available for 36 months.
PDRA (discovery and evaluation of heterogeneous catalysts for the conversion of CO2 to long chain alcohols)
Applications are invited for an ambitious researcher with a strong track record in the advanced structural characterisation of new materials by diffraction and electron microscopy methods. You will work within an interdisciplinary team of researchers to develop high-throughput methods for synthesis and characterisation of new heterogeneous catalysts for waste and biomass transformation. You will have a PhD in chemistry, physics, materials science or chemical engineering, a strong publication record, a pro-active approach and strong expertise in powder diffraction analysis and electron microscopy. The post is available for 36 months.
PDRA (discovery and evaluation of nanostructured heterogeneous catalysts for biomass conversion)
Applications are invited for an ambitious researcher with a strong track record in the synthesis and evaluation of heterogeneous catalysts. You will work within an interdisciplinary team of researchers to develop new heterogeneous catalysts and evaluate them in biomass transformation to useful chemicals. You will have a PhD in chemistry or chemical engineering, a strong publication record, a pro-active approach and strong expertise in liquid phase catalysis testing and in catalyst synthesis and characterisation. The post is available for 36 months.
Job description (currently closed)
PhD positions first cohort
The currently available projects aim to prepare new catalyst materials using different synthesis techniques ranging from atomic layer deposition, solution-based chemistry or pyrolysis.
Other PhD opportunities will be available as the project progresses so please check back to this page regularly
Metal-organic framework derived multi-metallic catalysts and catalytic functionalisation
This PhD studentship is an exciting opportunity to design and synthesise supported metal catalysts from the pyrolysis of metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and evaluate their catalytic properties.
This is a multi-disciplinary PhD that sits at the interface between Chemistry, Materials Science and Manufacturing.
Contact Dr Alex Katsoulidis
Atomic Layer Deposition of metals and oxides on ‘shaped’ catalyst support particles: Creating advanced catalysts for the production of sustainable next-generation feedstock chemicals for the consumer chemical sector
This PhD studentship will focus on developing advanced catalysts for the synthesis of long-chain alcohols from C1 waste hydrogenation and also catalysts for synthesis of monomers from waste.
Contact Dr Richard Potter
Zeolite and Zeotype synthesis and modification for biomass-derived chemical feedstock transformation
This PhD studentship is an exciting opportunity to design and synthesise large pore open-framework materials (zeolites and zeotypes) and evaluate their catalytic performance towards the transformation of biomass-derived chemical feedstocks into monomers for carbon-neutral plastic manufacture.
Contact Dr Troy Manning
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