Novel High Performance Coatings- Product and Process Development (Ref: CG-GO-2518)

About the Project

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 both 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.

Name of primary supervisor/CDT lead:
Dr N G Ozcan-Taskin N.Ozcan-taskin@lboro.ac.uk

Name of secondary supervisor:
Dr I Martin-Fabiani-Carrato

Entry requirements:
Applicants are expected to have a background in Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering or a related Engineering discipline with at least a 2:1 or equivalent

English language requirements:
Applicants must meet the minimum English language requirements. Further details are available on the International website.

Closing date of advert: 5th November 2026

Start date: October 2026, February 2027

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

Fee band: Band RB (UK: £5,006; international: £28,600)

How to apply:

Stage 1: You are strongly advised to contact Dr Gul Ozcan-Taskin in the first instance on n.ozcan-taskin@lboro.ac.uk with a CV, academic transcripts, a reference letter, and confirmation of funding source. Informal discussions are also welcome.

Stage 2: Following discussion with Dr Gul Ozcan-Taskin, applicants will be invited to make a formal application at online. Under programme name, select ‘Department name’ and quote the advert reference number CG-GO-2518 in your application

Project search terms:
chemical engineering, fluid mechanics, materials science, mechanical engineering, process development and scale up, product development, high performance coatings, process intensification, high shar mixing, formulation engineering