PhD in Chemistry

Title:

Novel Routes to Crystal Engineering: Controlling Crystallization through Ionic Liquids

Research area and project description:

As part of a NNF (NovoNordisk Fonden) RECRUIT grant [1], a larger research environment in the area of advanced crystal engineering will be set up. The aim is to explore task-specific ionic liquids (room temperature molten salts) for the deliberately designed crystallization (assembly-by-design) of organic solids such as medical drugs, food additives, agrochemicals, and others.

With the challenges of a growing and aging society and the emergence of new diseases, the need for improved access to medical drugs, agrochemicals, and food additives is more and more pressing. Many of these materials occur in different solid assemblies (forms, polymorphs), and each form has different properties. A prominent example is chocolate, or rather cocoa butter.[2,3] To date six different forms are known, of which only one gives the good chocolate taste and sensation. Unfortunately, it is not the most stable form. For that reason, sophisticated crystallization schemes have to be applied. The current project aims at revolutionizing crystallization by using task-specific ionic liquids (i.e. room temperature molten organic salts) as crystallization media. It is expected that this will allow for simple and robust access to (thermodynamically) unstable solid forms. Through careful engineering and supramolecular interactions, it may be even possible to get to new forms!

As the goal of this PhD project is to investigate ionic liquids as crystallization media for a wide set of food additives, agrochemicals, medical drugs, and other relevant materials, tasks will include: (1) developing crystallization techniques and strategies, (2) monitoring and analysing the crystallization process and the solid by means of X-ray and neutron diffraction, and electron crystallography, and (3) ultimately identifying those parameters that are key to the formation of a specific solid assembly. The project will take advantage of the latest possibilities offered by large-scale facilities for neutron and synchrotron X-ray scattering as well as new and custom-made equipment at the Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University.

The PhD candidate will manage a wide range of state-of-the-art synthesis and characterization techniques with emphasis on structure analysis with diffraction methods and become an expert in materials structure and properties. She/he will work in an inspired international environment and have opportunities for international research stays as well as attending international conferences. The candidate will benefit from strong international collaborations and work and network with top scholars around the world.

For more background of this PhD project, please visit: http://www.mudring.org  and https://nat.au.dk/en/about-the-faculty/news/show/artikel/the-endless-possibilities-of-impossible-salt/

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