Organization: University of Liverpool
Location: Liverpool, United Kingdom
Duration: 3y
Pay/Volunteer: £15,285/year
Deadline: 23rd March 2022
Description: We have a number of PhD opportunities as part of a large project that aims to provide the scientific foundation that will allow the UK consumer chemical sector to become sustainable and carbon neutral. The consumer chemical industry makes products that go into cosmetics, vitamins and health supplements, soaps, detergents, household chemicals, perfumes and foods. While some steps have already been taken to make this sector more sustainable, the use of virgin petrochemicals and other non-sustainable and/or polluting feedstocks remains prevalent. The project will develop routes to synthesise (and recycle) feedstock chemicals that do not depend on virgin petrochemicals. These new materials will not only need to be sustainable and carbon neutral, they also need to offer high performance, be cost effective to produce in bulk quantities and must not have long-term persistence in the environment after use. This will require new catalysts and catalytic processes.
The currently available projects aim to prepare new catalyst materials using different synthesis techniques ranging from atomic layer deposition, solution-based chemistry or pyrolysis.
The available projects are:
Metal-organic framework derived catalysts for CO2 utilisation
New porous frameworks for sustainable biomas catalysis
New materials for catalytic conversion of CO2 to chemicals
New porous materials for CO2 Catalysis
New materials for Sustainable Biomass Oxidation Catalysis
For studentships funded through EPSRC there are specific eligibility criteria: epsrc.ukri.org/skills/students/guidance-on-epsrc-studentships/eligibility