Green methods to revalorise plastic wastes: transformation into sustainable materials and chemicals

About the Project

These projects are open to students worldwide, but have no funding attached. Therefore, the successful applicant will be expected to fund tuition fees at the relevant level (home or international) and any applicable additional research costs. Please consider this before applying.

This experimental project will focus on facing the global challenge of reducing plastic waste landfilling by transforming plastic wastes into added-value materials/chemicals to facilitate energy transition and tackle greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions (i.e. CO2).

The research candidate will investigate the sustainable conversion of plastic wastes mainly into porous sorbents (of different nature and composition) and gases (e.g. H2). Formed products in the solid, gaseous, and liquid fractions will then be fully characterised.

Special attention to the characterisation and deep understanding of the resultant chemistry of the solid materials obtained when using conventional and unconventional transformation methods will be one of the main goals of this project. Solid materials will also be tested for gas separation by adsorption (i.e. elimination of undesired gaseous species and/or impurities from industrial gaseous mixtures, such as CO2 from flue gas). Gas fraction will be quantitatively analysed to estimate the potential to produce hydrogen as energy vector. Finally, the liquid fraction may also be characterised to evaluate its potential in the chemical industry.

The above will involve experimental activities such as the application of green, conventional and unconventional thermochemical conversion treatments to the selected wastes, surface modification, materials characterisation, evaluation of gas adsorption (uptakes) at equilibrium and dynamic conditions, adsorption selectivity determination, adsorption-desorption kinetics evaluation, among others.

The hired PhD candidate will further expand on the knowledge and research findings gathered from a recent project on this research topic. For more information on the previous work, applicants are recommended to visit references 1-3 from the list of references.

Additionally, applicants who would like to explore other specific innovative ideas within the scope of this project are welcomed and encouraged. For the later, a brief and concise description of the idea (maximum 2 pages) should be submitted as part of the application.

Further information:

This project requires knowledge of some of the following: thermochemical conversion treatments of materials, materials surface modification, materials characterisation: namely N2 sorption to determine textural properties (BET, micropore volume, total pore volume, average pore diameter…), gas chromatography (product analysis and quantification), FTIR, XRD, TGA, porosimeter. Organic chemistry, physical chemistry, reactor design and kinetics/reactor dynamics, thermodynamics and heat transfer, gas separation processes, adsorption principles, kinetics of adsorption and desorption, etc.

Microsoft Office package (specially Excel, Word, Power Point).

The knowledge of any other software such as Matlab, Aspen Hysys (Adsorption) will be valuable.

Decisions will be based on academic merit. The successful applicant should have, or expect to obtain, a UK Honours Degree at 2.1 (or equivalent) in MEng/BEng in Chemical Engineering or any related discipline, such as BSc in Chemistry, Materials Science.

Essential knowledge: materials and energy balances, and thermochemical conversion treatments; Microsoft Office package (especially Excel).

Desirable knowledge: microwave heating, and materials science (synthesis and characterisation (namely N2 physisorption, TGA, FTIR, XRD, gas chromatography, gas spectrometry, etc)). Good foundations on Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Environmental Engineering, Renewable Energy Engineering, Microwave Heating, Gas Separation Processes, Adsorption, reactor design and kinetics.

Application Procedure:

Formal applications can be completed online: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/pgap/login.php.

You should apply for PhD in Engineering to ensure your application is passed to the correct team for processing.

Please clearly note the name of the lead supervisor and project titleon the application form. If you do not include these details, it may not be considered for the studentship.

Your application must include: A personal statement, an up-to-date copy of your academic CV, and clear copies of your educational certificates and transcripts.

Please note: you do not need to provide a research proposal with this application.

Informal enquiries can be made by contacting Dr C Fernandez-Martin at cfmartin@abdn.ac.uk. If you require any additional assistance in submitting your application or have any queries about the application process, please don't hesitate to contact us at researchadmissions@abdn.ac.uk

Funding Notes

This is a self-funding project open to students worldwide. Our typical start dates for this programme are February or October.

Fees for this programme can be found here Finance and Funding | Study Here | The University of Aberdeen

Additional research costs / bench fees of £2,000 per annum will be required in addition to tuition fees and living expenses.