PhD (M/F) Thesis in Analytical Chemistry and Mechanosyntheses

Job Description

Thesis Subject

The environmental crisis is pushing chemistry to reinvent itself, shifting towards greener synthetic routes. Mechanochemistry stands out as a powerful alternative to traditional procedures, by minimizing or eliminating solvents, often the largest waste in chemical processes, thereby aligning with sustainable goals. Yet, despite its growing diversity of applications in materials synthesis, the field is held back by a critical gap: the reaction mechanisms at play most often remain elusive. Shedding light into the chemical and physical phenomena occurring in the milling jars is key to unlock mechanochemistry's full potential for designing unprecedented compounds.This thesis lies at the intersection of mechanochemical synthesis and analytical chemistry, with a ground-breaking goal: developing the first operational operando NQR (Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance) spectroscopy device, as a novel and unique tool to probe reaction mechanisms in ball-milling processes. In our lab, we have recently started to develop a first prototype that enables to follow mechanochemical reactions in real-time using NQR (manuscript in preparation). However, our current device is still permissive, and needs to be transformed into a robust and more routine analytical tool, usable by a broad diversity of mechanochemists.
To this end, the objectives of the thesis will be to:
i/ Optimize performance, test the limits, and push back the potential of our current prototype, to make it suitable for the analysis of a broader variety of mechanochemical reactions, notably by widening the scope of analyzed isotopes.
ii/ Integrate the NQR device within our recently developed mechanochemistry-operando platform, which already includes Raman spectroscopy, thermal imaging, high-speed video analysis, and acoustic monitoring, to create an unprecedent multimodal analytical hub for real-time mechanochemical studies.
iii/ Apply the newly developed set-up to elucidate complex mechanochemical reactions, both in organic chemistry (solid-state cross-electrophile couplings (XECs), whose solid-state mechanisms remain poorly understood), and in materials chemistry (formation of hybrid perovskites, which are key materials for photovoltaic applications, and whose synthesis crucially needs to be carefully controlled to optimize their performance).
By combining these tools, the project aims to rationalize synthetic mechanisms, accelerate the discovery of new molecules and materials, and establish NQR spectroscopy as one of the new standard tools to be used in mechanochemical analyses.

Your Work Environment

The PhD project will be carried out at the ICGM, within the D1 department (and the MISOTOP group, https://www.misotop.cnrs.fr/), under the supervision of one Dr. and the co-supervision of one Dr. of the group. This research is part of an ANR-funded project aiming at developing operando methods for mechanochemistry, and which gathers an interdisciplinary consortium including several other laboratories, like the GIPSA-Lab (Grenoble) and the iTHEMM (Reims).

Constraints and risks

The position falls under the Protection of Scientific and Technical Potential (PPST) framework and, in accordance with regulations, the final approval must be authorized by the competent authority of the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research (MESR).

Compensation and benefits

Compensation

2300 € gross monthly

Annual leave and RTT

44 jours

Remote Working practice and compensation

Pratique et indemnisation du TT

Transport

Prise en charge à 75% du coût et forfait mobilité durable jusqu’à 300€

About the offer

About the CNRS

The CNRS is a major player in fundamental research on a global scale. The CNRS is the only French organization active in all scientific fields. Its unique position as a multi-specialist allows it to bring together different disciplines to address the most important challenges of the contemporary world, in connection with the actors of change.

CNRS

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