PhD position in Heterogeneous catalysis for CO2 conversion

(ref. BAP-2022-607)

Laatst aangepast : 12/08/2022

KU Leuven is highly innovative, stimulating, and unique place to do research. According to Reuters, KU Leuven is N°5 on the 'Reuters Top 100: The World's Most Innovative Universities - 2017' list, and is also the first European one on the list! For more information see https://www.kuleuven.be/english/kuleuven/index.htmlAs The PhD will take place at the CSCE (Center for Sustainable Catalysis and Engineering), which has a role to produce knowledge to foster a better understanding of the role of heterogeneous catalysis in the upcoming circular and carbon-smart economy. The Dusselier lab, a part of the CSCE, focuses on the catalyst synthesis (zeolites and metal oxides), fundamental and applied heterogeneous catalysis for alternative feedstocks, and the preparation of biobased and biodegradable plastics.

Project

• The research group of Prof. Michiel Dusselier is looking for a motivated student to start a PhD taking part in a research program dedicated to sustainable heterogeneous catalysis in the context of CO2 conversion. 
• The PhD researcher will work on two kinds of catalytic CO2 conversion strategies, with the aim of reducing overall CO2 emissions of production for useful chemicals. The researcher at CSCE will focus on heterogeneous catalytic routes and will synthesize different porous and non-porous supported/non-supported catalysts and test their performance in high temperature CO2 conversion chemistry (in a new, CO2-dedicated CSCE reactors). Light assisted high temperature catalytic strategies and mechanistic studies (IR spectroscopy) will be investigated as well. An example of the type of CO2 work in the group is found in this paper https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acscatal.2c01374 but note that also zeolite synthesis and catalysis could be part of this PhD.
• The PhD researcher will also be able to characterize these materials using various available characterization tools. The candidate should be able to clearly communicate his/her work both in papers and presentations, externally and internally and will get training for this.
• In addition to the academic research, he/she will be responsible for the technical set-up in the lab, i.e. the gas phase-catalytic reactor (plug flow, fixed bed) and its online GC analysis and handling or safety issues related to this. Therefore, he/she coordinates all required adjustments to the set-up and, if necessary, is responsible for communication with the technical, safety and purchasing department. 

Profile

• The candidate should have a Master’s degree in chemistry, Chemical Engineering or related fields.
• Knowledge about material and catalyst synthesis (e.g. zeolites, silicas, oxides, etc.); practical experiences with typical characterization tools (e.g. physisorption, XRD, TGA, TPD, IR, etc.).
• Experience with and/or knowledge about continuous gas-phase reactor, engineering and kinetics needed (e.g., familiarity with GHSV, WHSV, pelleting, thermodynamics, mass transfer, …).
• Experience and/or knowledge about CO2 (CCU) valorization, or life cycle assessments for chemical conversions, is a plus.
• The candidate should be interested and passionate about mechanistic studies and fundamental research but no shy away from applicative research. 
• Ability to work independently and as a part of the very engaged and ambitious research team. 
• Fluent oral and written English is required. Unless you have obtained your master’s degree in a program that is taught in English or Dutch in a country where English or Dutch is an official language, you need to submit an official test result showing your proficiency of English or Dutch at a B2 level. For English, this can be concretely shown by submitting one of the following: IELTS: minimal scores of 7 (General Score) and no subscores below 6.5; TOEFL: minimal scores of 94 (General Score) and no subscores below 22.

Offer

• This job covers a position for a PhD researcher (4 years in general, after a positive evaluation after 9 months. Yearly contracts) at the CSCE: Center for Sustainable Catalysis and Engineering (faculty of Bioscience Engineering, KU Leuven, Belgium).
• We are offering a PhD position in an intellectually challenging environment of young and dynamic researchers. KU Leuven is a research-intensive, internationally oriented university that focus on fundamental as well as applied scientific research. 
• The preferred starting date is somewhere between October 2022 - January 2023. We hope to receive applications at the latest by Sept 10, 2022.

Interested?

For more information please contact Mr. Ibrahim Khalil, tel.: +32 16 19 42 08, mail: [email protected], BUT, to apply use the online KU Leuven application LINK. 

KU Leuven seeks to foster an environment where all talents can flourish, regardless of gender, age, cultural background, nationality or impairments. If you have any questions relating to accessibility or support, please contact us at [email protected].