Post-Doctoral Position Gas Sensors based on Conductive Polymers: new sustaibable pathway on a fixed-term contract at IMT Nord Europe

Discipline : Centre for Education, Research and Innovation in Energy Environment (CERIE EE)

Line Manager : Caroline Duc & Nathalie Redon

Workplace : CERI EE, 941 rue Charles Bourseul, Douai, France

Type of contract and duration : Post-doctoral position (14 months, renewable)

CONTEXT :

This contract is part of the joint laboratory between IMT Nord Europe and the French company Groupe TERA.

IMT Nord Europe :

Public establishment belonging to IMT (Institut Mines-Télécom), placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Industry, IMT Nord Europe has three main objectives: providing our students with ethically responsible engineering practice enabling them to solve 21^st century issues, carrying out our R&D activities leading to outstanding innovations and supporting territorial development through innovation and entrepreneurship. Ideally positioned at the heart of Europe, 1 hour away from Paris, 30 min from Brussels and 1h30 from London, IMT Nord Europe has strong ambitions to become a main actor of the current industrial transitions, digital and environmental, by combining education and research on engineering and digital technologies.

Located on two main campuses dedicated to research and education in Douai and Lille, IMT Nord Europe offers research facilities of almost 20,000 m² in the following areas:

- Digital science,

- Energy and Environment,

- Materials and Processes.

For more details, visit the School’s website : www.imt-nord-europe.fr

Groupe TERA :

Groupe TERA (www.groupe-tera.com) is a French company with a share capital of €827,848.50, listed on the Euronext Growth market since 18 July 2019 (ALGTR).

IN BRIEF :

Attached to the Sensors team of the Center for Energy and Environment (CERI EE) from IMT NE, the postdoc will be at the heart of the collaboration between IMT NE et Groupe TERA. Her/his missions focus on the development of new organic sensors dedicated to gas detection by chemiresistors. The candidate will join a multidisciplinary team with skills in atmospheric physics and chemistry, electronics and polymer sciences.

We are looking for a candidate with a PhD in Material Science or Chemistry of Solid with a strong scientific expertise on conductive polymers and their physico-chemical analysis to explore properties/performances relationships. Knowledge on sensors, physics of conductive polymer, formulation, synthesis or processing of polymer blends are welcome. Candidate must be fluent in English with good writing/communication skills.

MISSIONS :

Jointly with Groupe TERA, the CERI EE currently develops industry-oriented research activities on the manufacturing of gas sensors de dicated to amonia and formaldehyde detection, for various applications linked to outdoor and indoor air quality monitoring. A specific attention is paid to sensing performances (detection limit, sensitivity, selectivity, etc…) in controlled environments and real situations. The actual technology is based on conductive polymers such as polyaniline (PANI) that display strong variations of its intrinsic resistivity with the concentation of different target gases.

Current formulations contain carcinogenic solvents that need to be modified in order to move towards more sustainable solutions that can be easily industrialised using printing processes. The aim of the project is i) to make the composition of materials more virtuous, ii) to provide a better understanding of the leverage for optimising sensor performance and iii) to facilitate the industrialisation of sensitive surfaces. The successful candidate will need to understand the role of the dopant and the influence of the solvent on the detection mechanisms and performances of gas sensors.

ACTIVITIES :

• To formulate or synthetize various polyaniline composites
• To develop experimental strategy to clarify the impact of the nature of dopant and solvant in the detection of gas
• To model gas solid interaction at the origin of the sensors response

To optimize the formulation of the conductive polymers used as sensitive materials

REQUIRED PROFILE :

The candidate must hold a PhD degree in the field of materials chemistry/physics or materials engineering. The successful candidate must have strong scientific background and technical skills, allowing her/him to carry out the aforementioned missions.

She/He should :

• have solid scientific and technological background and significant experience in conductive polymer synthesis/formulation and characterization.
• have very good communication and teamwork skills.
• have a good command of English (oral and written)

CONDITIONS :

The job is to be filled as to 01/07/2024 for a period of 14 months, renewable.

INFORMATION AND APPLICATION METHODS :

For any information on the missions, please contact:

Dr. Nathalie Redon – Tél. +33 (0)3 27 71 24 77 – E-mail: nathalie.redon@imt-nord-europe.fr

Dr. Caroline DUC – Tel. +33 (0)3 27 71 22 94 – E-mail: caroline.duc@imt-nord-europe.fr

For any administrative information, please contact the Human Resources Department:

jobs@imt-nord-europe.fr

DEADLINE DATE FOR SUBMISSIONS : 30/06/2024