Postdoctoral Research Position on Upcycling Polymer Waste by Reactive Processing

L’École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris (ESPCI Paris) is a “Grande École d'ingénieurs” and an internationally renowned research center constituted of 17 laboratories. The ESPCI Paris is proud of its strong research collaborations with industry as well as its research-oriented education program in physics, chemistry, and biology.

The selected candidate will join the Chimie et Design Macromoléculaire (CDM) team within the Chimie Moléculaire, Macromoléculaire, Matériaux (C3M) laboratory. The C3M laboratory broadly focuses on the design, synthesis and study of organic, polymeric, and composite materials organized at different scales. The laboratory is known for conducting fundamental research inspired by and oriented towards industrial applications.

The CDM team is deeply invested in developing new processes for improving the physical properties of plastic waste so that it may be reused. In particular, we are focused on an “upcycling” approach in which polymers are transformed into dynamic polymer networks by reactive processing, which is a solvent-free and industrially-relevant technique. The resulting materials typically offer an unusual yet compelling combination of properties—they behave like thermosets at use temperatures but flow at processing temperatures. This project is dedicated to elaborating and exemplifying new chemistries in this field. In addition to the synthesis of new reactive additives/polymers, this project will entail the creative application of characterization techniques from the molecular scale (e.g., NMR, GC, UV/Vis, Raman…) to the polymer scale (e.g., SEC, DSC, processability, rheology, microscopy…). The knowledge generated from this project will have important implications for recyclable and hierarchically structured materials.

Reactive processing, functional polymers, dynamic covalent chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, rheology, microscopy

Knowledge and skills: The candidate should have a strong background in the synthesis of organic molecules and polymers. An intimate knowledge of the structural, thermal, and/or mechanical characterization of polymeric materials is a plus. We are particularly interested in candidates who are driven to tackle fundamental research problems.

Required training: The candidate must have a PhD by the start date

Start date and duration: Preferably November 2022 with a duration of 18 months

Supervisors: Prof. Renaud Nicolaÿ and CNRS researcher Dr. Nathan Van Zee

Salary: The base salary is 45 k€ gross, which will be adjusted on the basis of experience

Funding source: Appel à Projet Prématuration PSL/Qlife 2021, “UNICYCLE”

Applications must include the following:

• Cover letter
• Brief summary (max 1 page) of most relevant research experience
• Curriculum vitae with the complete contact details of the candidate
• Contact details of two references

The files must be combined into a single document in PDF format only.

To apply, this document should be sent to both Renaud Nicolaÿ ([email protected] ) and Nathan Van Zee ([email protected] ).