PhD (M/F) candidate for the development of a hybrid process of water treatment based on microalgae cultivation and 3D macroporous structures of metallic oxide nanoparticles.
27 Feb 2024
Job Information
- Organisation/Company
CNRS- Department
Laboratoire de génie des procédés - environnement - agroalimentaire- Research Field
Engineering
Chemistry
Physics- Researcher Profile
First Stage Researcher (R1)- Country
France- Application Deadline
18 Mar 2024 - 23:59 (UTC)- Type of Contract
Temporary- Job Status
Full-time- Hours Per Week
35- Offer Starting Date
30 Apr 2024- Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?
Not funded by an EU programme- Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?
No
Offer Description
-The project will be developed at GEPEA laboratory (Process engineering- Environment and Agrifood) (https://www.gepea.fr ) which is a mixed research unit (UMR 6144) renown in the chemical engineering domain. The PhD subject is part of the European project WaterGreenTreat including 4 European teams from Romania, Hungary, Spain and France. Most of the experimental developments will be performed at GEPEA lab and pilot scale experiments at Algosolis platform(www.algosolis.fr ) at Saint-Nazaire. The PhD student will be part of the BAM team (Biotechnology Applied to Microalgae) with investigations at La Roche sur Yon and Nantes planned in collaboration with the GEPEA TEAM team.
Water is omnipresent on Earth but the volume of fresh water (necessary for life) is limited. Water pollution is one of humanity's biggest problems arising from the contamination of the surface waters (rivers, lakes, seas and oceans) and the subsurface waters. Consequently, it is important to identify and develop various approaches for the treatment of the residual waters generated by various industries (pharmaceutical, textile, etc.) in order to use the reclaimed water for agriculture. Usually, for the purification of industrial wastewater, physico-chemical methods of removing harmful substances are used simultaneously or in combination with biological treatment. Semiconductor nanostructures of metallic oxides (MO)such as TiO2, ZnO, CdS, CuO, etc. with different forms, shapes and sizes have been found to be effective in removing environmental pollutants from water through photocatalytic activities. Among these nanostructures, composites based on CuO and ZnO nanoparticles (MO-NPs) have gained more interest in many applications due to their optical, electrical magnetic properties, ecofriendliness. Here the choice has been made to design and fabricate 3D mesoporous structures based on CuO and ZnO NPs composites for the photocatalytic treatment of wastewaters facilitating the recovery of photocatalyst materials. Robocasted 3D structures will be elaborated using bio synthetized NPs. Apart from the pollutant's degradation products, metallic oxide NPs are able to generate metallic ions in the medium that need to be eliminated.
Water treatment will be complemented by microalgae cultivation. Ecologic, microalgae culture is easy to implement in wastewater treatment systems. Microalgae show a good capacity to extract metallic ions and an appreciable growth rate due to nutrients in wastewater. Therefore, a synergetic effect is expected by combining the action of 3D robocasted structures of MO-NPs with the cultivation of microalgae for the abatement of wastewaters pollutants and the potential undesirable species generated by the photocatalytic treatment.
Objectives and missions
The PhD student will study the influence of various substances and objects (pollutants, degradation products, MO NPs, metallic ions, nanoparticles and porous structures…) present in the cultivation medium on the viability and growth of microalgae and on the water quality after treatment.
After a bibliographic study, the first step will be performed at the laboratory scale to determine the influence of free MO NPs and of NP composites at increasing concentrations in the cultivation medium through cell viability and growth rate of two strains (Chlorella sp et Scenedesmus obliqus). The second step will consider the introduction of pollutants. Various analytic methods will be developed to characterize the elements path in the medium as well as in the biomass.
Fabrication of new microporous structures based on eco synthetized MO-NPs will be qualified at pilot scale under solar irradiation.
Detailed cytotoxicity analysis of the produced microalgae will complement data obtained on the culture parameters.
The kinetic data on the degradation process coupled with the microalgae cultivation parameters will be integrated in a modelling for the optimization of the hybrid system. The objective is to guide the choice of the best synergetic parameters between the NPs photocatalysis and microalgae action to produce a water with agricultural quality from different levels of water pollution.
Requirements
- Research Field
- Engineering
- Education Level
- Master Degree or equivalent
- Research Field
- Chemistry
- Education Level
- Master Degree or equivalent
- Research Field
- Physics
- Education Level
- Master Degree or equivalent
- Languages
- FRENCH
- Level
- Basic
- Research Field
- Engineering
- Years of Research Experience
- None
- Research Field
- Chemistry
- Years of Research Experience
- None
- Research Field
- Physics
- Years of Research Experience
- None
Additional Information
- Website for additional job details
https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/Doctorant/UMR6144-PASGIL-001/Default.aspx
Work Location(s)
- Number of offers available
- 1
- Company/Institute
- Laboratoire de génie des procédés - environnement - agroalimentaire
- Country
- France
- City
- ST NAZAIRE
- Geofield
Where to apply
- Website
https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Candidat/Offre/UMR6144-PASGIL-001/Candidater.aspx
Contact
- City
ST NAZAIRE- Website
http://www.gepea.fr/
STATUS: EXPIRED