Open Positions

Building on previous work on developing polymeric adsorbent materials for removing phosphorus (P) from wastewater, this project aims to bring the materials obtained so far closer to application. To this end, different polymer preparation approaches must be systematically evaluated to identify polymer particles or beads that can adsorb phosphate from larger volumes of water. Additionally, protocols must be developed to desorb the phosphate ions and regenerate the adsorbers. Strategies for preparing the polymers include suspension or precipitation polymerization. Alternatively, materials can be obtained by grafting suitable porous polymers onto preformed substrates. The choice of monomers will be based on the composition of previously synthesized materials that showed promise in terms of P adsorption properties. The resulting materials will be characterized in terms of their morphology, capacity, and selectivity. Flow experiments will be performed to quantify phosphate adsorption and desorption. Initially, water containing only phosphate salts will be used for elution. The composition of the water will gradually become more complex by adding other salts present in wastewater until it matches the composition of typical wastewaters. The ultimate goal is to test the prepared materials in a pilot wastewater treatment plant to evaluate their practical application.
 

The most important scientific questions of this PhD will be:

• Can polymeric adsorber materials be applied in a flow process to efficiently and selectively remove phosphate from wastewater down to low residual concentrations?
• Can the polymers be regenerated and can the phosphate salts be recovered?
• Can the materials and process be scaled up for use in a wastewater treatment plant?

Requirements for applicants:

• Excellent Master's degree (M.Sc.) in Chemistry or equivalent
• Experience in synthetic organic chemistry and in common analytical (NMR, UV-Vis, IR) and purification techniques (chromatography)
• Very good experience in polymer chemistry and standard polymer characterization techniques
• Fluency in English and willingness to learn German (for non-German speakers)

You can send your application for this PhD topic to: stefan.kubik[at]rptu.de