PhD Studentship: Novel High-Performance Coatings - Product and Process Development

Is the project University funded or unfunded?: University funded

Funding eligibility (please select one): Competition funded project (students worldwide)

Is the project UKRI funded?: No

Is the project industry funded?: No

Is the project part of the Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship?: Yes

Closing date of advert: 18th February 2025

Start date: October 2025

Full-time/part-time availability: Full-time 3 years

Who is eligible to apply?: Both UK and International

Name of primary supervisor/CDT lead: Dr Nerime Gül Özcan-Taşkın

Name(s) of secondary supervisor(s) if known: Dr Ignacio (Nacho) Martin

Primary supervisor email address: N.Ozcan-Taskin@lboro.ac.uk

Primary supervisor telephone number: +441509222500

Link to supervisor's online staff profile page: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/chemical/staff/gul-ozcan/

Link to secondary supervisor(s) online staff profile page(s): https://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/materials/staff/ignacio-martin-fabiani/

Project detail:

Coatings are used for a wide range of applications with formulations developed or adapted according to the needs specific to the surfaces they are used on- smoothness, brightness, scratch resistance are among these. Challenges of global dimension experienced in the recent years have accentuated the need to develop new formulation coatings with antimicrobial properties that can be used areas of dense populations, such as hospitals, schools, in public transport to inhibit or minimise the risks of spreading diseases in the community.

It has also been shown that coatings that include nanoparticles in their formulation have far more superior performance provided that a fine dispersion can be obtained through size reduction, i.e. through the deagglomeration of a hierarchy of particle clusters that typically form when fine powders are added into a liquid. Large sizes also hinder control over the final distribution in the dried coating after solvent evaporation.

This multi-disciplinary project, which will be performed in collaboration between Chemical and Materials Engineering Departments, has the overall objectives of developing a high performance coating formulation and associated processing route to achieve fine dispersions enabling control over the final coating architecture and optical properties.

The project therefore has two main strands: product and process development. There will be the opportunity to learn about analytical techniques to determine the properties of new coatings, characterise their performance and develop related energy intensive processes to implement across a range of scales of operation.

Entry requirements:

Students should have or are expected to have at least a 2:1 in chemical engineering or a related discipline

English language requirements:

Applicants must meet the minimum English language requirements. Further details are available on the International website (http://www.lboro.ac.uk/international/applicants/english/).

Funding information:

The studentship is for 3 years and provides a tax-free stipend of £19,237 per annum for the duration of the studentship plus university tuition fees.

Bench fees required: Yes

Bench fee value: £1000

How to apply: All applications should be made online. Under programme name, select *the school of AACME/ chemical engineering*. Please quote the advertised reference number: * AACME-24-029 * in your application.

To avoid delays in processing your application, please ensure that you submit the minimum supporting documents.

The following selection criteria will be used by academic schools to help them make a decision on your application.

Project search terms: Chemical engineering, Materials science - other

Other search terms not listed: Coatings, Novel formulations with nanomaterials, Nanoparticle dispersion, Deagglomeration, process development, Scale up

Email Address AACME: Aacme.Pgr@mailbox.lboro.ac.uk

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