Description of the thesis topic

In situ design of transition metal nanoparticles in 3D porous Polymer-Derived Ceramic parts for the hydrogenolysis of biomass-derived glycerol

Work Context

The catalyst-assisted hydrogenolysis of biomass-derived glycerol, a by-product of biodiesel production, is a key process in the value addition to natural resources towards a sustainable energy transition. In the future, new material design and processing concepts will be required to provide an integration of macroscale reactor design with additional functionalities on the nanometric scale while being able to control both macro- and microstructure as well as active site distribution within catalysts. This should be achieved within a single process. Recent advances in additive manufacturing (AM) in combination with rational materials design approaches employing molecularly tailorable precursor compounds enable disruptive innovations to achieve the required process integration and flexibility, thereby facilitating an intensification of catalytic processes via integrated, continuous-flow catalytic reactor systems.
The main objective of TRANSFORM – a PRCI project between CNRS (IRCER) and TU Wien (TUW, Institute of Chemical Technologies and Analytics and Institutes of Material Chemistry) - is the development of a groundbreaking new approach towards the generation of 3D-shaped ceramic parts with improved catalytic activity for glycerol hydrogenation. In our three-pillar-based methodological approach, TRANSFORM will provide (i) the implementation of a precursor route to synthesize non-noble transition metal (TM)-modified preceramic polymers and convert them into TM-nanoparticle (NP)-decorated Si-C-O-(N) nanocomposites, (ii) the novel design of customized and complex geometries coupling preceramic polymer technology with advanced AM techniques (including vat photopolymerization, granule-based fused deposition modeling, and direct ink writing) yielding materials with enhanced accessibility of catalytic sites and improved mass transport characteristics, and (iii) the successful implementation of continuous flow catalytic reactors suitable for glycerol hydrogenation. The present thesis will be conducted at IRCER, with expected stays at TUW in Austria.

The position is located in a sector under the protection of scientific and technical potential (PPST), and therefore requires, in accordance with the regulations, that your arrival is authorized by the competent authority of the MESR.

Constraints and risks

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