We are seeking for a highly motivated postdoc to join the Soft Matter team at Laboratoire Charles Coulomb, Montpellier (France). Ideally, the start date would be February 2021. The project is funded through the French National Research Agency grant  “THELECTRA” (Thermoresponsive electroadsorption).

The postdoc will investigate how the electrostatic adsorption of charged polyelectrolytes (PEs) affects the stability, the rheology, and the dynamics at the microscopic scale of suspensions of thermoresponsive ionic microgels with a charge opposite in sign to that of the PEs. She / he will explore the state diagram of PEs-microgel complexes in terms of rheology as a function of different parameters, such as temperature, concentration of PEs and microgels or their deformability. She / he will use a set of complementary experimental techniques, which include an original set-up coupling light scattering and rheological measurements, to determine the microscopic dynamics of PE-microgel complexes formed at high concentrations, both at rest and under large shear strains. A quantitative comparison between the microscopic dynamics and the macroscopic mechanical properties of PE-microgel suspensions will be performed to reveal the origin of phenomena such as yielding, aging and possibly thixotropy.
Such a fundamental understanding will be used to obtain a proof of concept for the design of a gray water treatment cell. This cell will use ionic microgels to physically adsorb a large class of ionic waste, removing them from the water to be purified.

The position is for 24 months. For further details, and to apply online, please visit https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/UMR5221-DOMTRU-001/Default.aspx?lang=EN.

Interested individuals can also contact me via email (domenico.truzzolillo@umontpellier.fr) or via my website (https://domenicotruzzolillo.jimdofree.com/contacts/)

The closing date for the application is december 1st.

Please feel free to disseminate to anybody that might be interested.

Domenico Truzzolillo