Postdoc in WISE: Self-organized liquid-infused materials for CO2 capture

This Post-Doctoral position is within the Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE, wise-materials.org ). WISE, funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, is the largest-ever investment in materials science in Sweden and will encompass major efforts at Sweden’s foremost universities over the course of 10 years. The vision is a sustainable future through materials science.

Materials with self-organized immobilized fluid-fluid interfaces is a relatively new concept and likely to play a role in a range of applications. This project will focus on Liquid-Infused Materials (LIMs) (Yasuga et al, Nature Phys, 17, 2021), which use a periodic solid scaffold to lock in liquid droplets. LIM's structured and periodic feature allows for unprecedented precision and control of interface area-to-volume ratio and perfusion. In this project, we will immobilize a reactive liquid and expose the system to a flow of CO2-rich gas. The goal of  this project is to evaluate the carbon-capture capacity of structured liquid-infused materials and compare the performance with existing state-of-the-art methods. More specifically, your task is to determine the mass transport and reaction rates for different self-organized LIMs. This requires quantifying convective gas flow transport to the interface, reaction processes at the interface and diffusion of reactants and by-products inside the droplets. Your second task is to build a prototype of LIM-based carbon capture. To accomplish these tasks, it is necessary to combine numerical simulations of multiphase flows in porous media and experimental techniques for fabricating different porous scaffolds and measuring mass transport.

All early-stage researchers recruited into the WISE program will be a part of the WISE Graduate School , an ambitious nationwide program of seminars, courses, research visits, and other activities to promote a strong multi-disciplinary and international network between PhD students, postdocs, researchers, and industry.

• A position at a leading technical university that generates knowledge and skills for a sustainable future
• Engaged and ambitious colleagues along with a creative, international and dynamic working environment
• Work in Stockholm, in close proximity to nature
• Help to relocate and be settled in Sweden and at KTH
• Part of WISE programme

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Requirements

• A doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign degree, This eligibility requirement must be met no later than the time the employment decision is made.

Preferred qualifications

• A doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign degree, obtained within the last three years prior to the application deadline
• Research expertise
• Teaching abilities
• Awareness of diversity and equal opportunity issues, with specific focus on gender equality
• Collaborative abilities
• Independence
• The project involves numerical simulations and experimental work; while experience in both is preferable, it is not necessary. It is a merit if you have experience in experimental work in material science related to carbon capture or in fluid mechanics related to mass/heat transfer of reactive flows. You will then in collaboration with other postdocs and PhD students conduct the numerical simulations. Candidates with background in numerical simulations of multiphase flows, porous media and reactive flows are also relevant for this position. You will then in collaboration conduct experiments related to mass transport in LIMs. 

Great emphasis will be placed on personal competency.

You will find contact information to trade union representatives at KTH's webbpage .

Log into KTH's recruitment system in order to apply to this position. You are the main responsible to ensure that your application is complete according to the ad.

The application must include:

• CV including relevant professional experience and knowledge.
• Copy of diplomas and grades from your previous university studies
• Brief account of why you want to conduct research, your academic interests and how they relate to your previous studies and future goals. Max two pages long.

Your complete application must be received at KTH no later than the last day of application, midnight CET/CEST (Central European Time/Central European Summer Time).

The position offered is for, at the most, three years.

A position as a postdoctoral fellow is a time-limited qualified appointment focusing mainly on research, intended as a first career step after a dissertation.

Striving towards gender equality, diversity and equal conditions is both a question of quality for KTH and a given part of our values.

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Disclaimer: In case of discrepancy between the Swedish original and the English translation of the job announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.