Qualification Type: | PhD |
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Location: | Manchester |
Funding for: | UK Students |
Funding amount: | £19,237 |
Hours: | Full Time |
Placed On: | 21st June 2024 |
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Closes: | 21st September 2024 |
Research theme: Functional nanocomposites
How to apply: uom.link/pgr-apply-fap
This is a 3.5 year PhD studentship co-funded by the University of Manchester and industry. Funding will cover tuition fees and stipend set at the UKRI rate (£19,237 for 2024/25). The start date will be October 2024.
The ‘Advanced Nanomaterials Group’ is a large team of researchers that focuses on developing scalable processes to synthesize nanomaterials with well-defined atomic structures, assemble these nanomaterials into functional macroscale structures, and use these novel materials for sustainable energy and environmental applications (advancednanomaterials.weebly.com [advancednanomaterials.weebly.com]). We are based at the National Graphene Institute and the Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials (University of Manchester) and we collaborate with academic and industrial partners both in the UK and globally. This PhD project is supported by Syensqo, a leading provider of specialty polymers for electric vehicles, lightweight materials for aerospace, and bio-sourced solvents and surfactants for consumer products. The PhD student will join the ‘Advanced Nanomaterials Group’ under the supervision of Dr Cristina Vallés and Prof Ian Kinloch. This project will include academic and industrial supervision as well as travel to attend conferences and meetings both within the UK and globally. The student will have access to the labs and facilities available within the Department of Materials, National Graphene Institute and the Henry Royce Institute, as well as an ‘as needed’ access to the capabilities of Syensqo.
About the PhD project:
Driven by CO2 emission targets and the need for light-weight structures, the global use for carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRPs) is expected to grow very rapidly in the next years, leading to increased demand and challenges for in-service repair. The light-weight structures typically used in industry are made from CFRPs, light alloys or a combination of material types, which are typically joined with high-performance, structural epoxy adhesives. Such adhesives are typically cured by the application of heat, which can be achieved inside or outside an oven/autoclave environment. If damaged in service, composite parts are often repaired by Out of autoclave (OoA) strategies, these often rely on localised heating which can result in considerable heat loss and often require significant insitu work to be performed on the part. Thus, novel more sustainable OoA bonding strategies that allow localised heating within the bondline without externally heating the components and could facilitate the debonding of parts are required.
In our previous work we investigated epoxy nanocomposites filled with carbon nanomaterials for such self-heating adhesives which contained a conductive nanostructured network with the ability to Joule heat just the bondline and achieve a complete curing, leading to a successful CFRPs repair. These nanocomposites also showed potential for a selective Joule deconstruction of the bonded joints going towards circular products.
Further fundamental understanding of this Joule heating promoted bonding and debonding of CFRPs joints is now required to gain control on the key parameters involved in the process before it can be taken to industry. This PhD project will develop new understanding on the Joule bonding and debonding processes of such conductive epoxy nanocomposites used as self-heating structural adhesives in CFRPs joints.
Please contact the supervisors before you apply: Dr Cristina Valles and Prof Ian Kinloch: cristina.valles@manchester.ac.uk, ian.kinloch@manchester.ac.uk
Applicants should have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2.1 honours degree or a master’s (or international equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering related discipline.
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