The research group of Prof. Michiel Dusselier is looking for a motivated student to start a PhD taking part in a research program together with a consortium (KU Leuven and UAntwerp) dedicated to tailored carbon based bifunctional catalysts http://www.dusselier-lab.org/
Project
The available position is for a PhD researcher at the Center for Sustainable Catalysis and Engineering (CSCE) within the faculty of Bioscience Engineering at KU Leuven, Belgium. The duration of the position spans 4 years, subject to a positive evaluation at the 9-month mark, with contracts renewed annually.
In this role, the doctorate student will delve into the close collaboration with the Prof. Defeyter group (https://defeytergroup.org/), Prof. Harvey (https://jeremyharveygroup.wordpress.com/) and the group of Prof. Maes (https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/research-groups/orsy/), where he/she will be responsible for the catalytic experiments on tailored carbon materials. The advantages of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis will be combined by developing novel bifunctional heterogeneous systems, including one part of the catalysts grafted to and a complementary part physisorbed to a graphene surface. We will search for control of the organization of the graphene layer for in-depth bottom-up catalyst design and investigation of the properties of the formed structures. The robustness of the assembly should enable efficient catalysis of reactions of importance in the context of biobased chemicals, likely deoxydehydration (DODH) and frustrated lewis pair hydrogenation (FLP).
For more information and to apply visit https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/60421085?lang=en