Evaluation of transport properties of plastic nano-materials under extremes thermal conditions and consequences on their recycling ability

The market of nanotechnology is dominated by engineered nano-materials (ENM) for food packaging which will amount more than 20% of the total market in 2015. As this market is expected to rapidly grow in the coming years, the wide-scale use of ENM raises important questions about environmental and safety issues, especially with regard to their end-of-life treatment. The recycling of post-consumer plastics, possibly containing ENM, for food applications requires knowledge on the decontamination efficiency of recycling process in order to minimise any risk of human’s health.

The program will contribute to develop the next generation of food packaging solutions using a safer and eco-designed approach with direct benefits for both environment and consumer safety by assessing the suitability of accepting them in recycling food contact materials. The proposed approach aims to identify the determinants of recycling ability of plastic ENM by increasing the knowledge about the relationship between structural characteristic and transport properties of such material under extreme temperatures corresponding to decontamination conditions (EC N°282/2008). One of the main output will be to propose a modelling toolbox by (i) updating existing  mass transfer models  taking into account other parameters, such as the sorption in nanoparticles, and (ii) developing a 3D and multiscale modelling approach based on numerical simulations for realistic nano-composites structure. The output of this program will allow to contribute filling the gap of knowledge in 3D structure characterisation, physical-chemical stability understanding (interfacial interactions and reactions, breakdown products..) and multi-scale modelling of mass transfer properties of recycled nanocomposites.

The program is conducted in collaboration between the research Unit IATE (www.), the CEREGE Institute (Aix-en Provence) and the ISTerre Institute (Grenoble) in partnership with industrial partner and a financial support from the Labex SERENADE (Safer and Ecodesign Research and Education applied to NAnomaterial DEvelopment).

Position Qualifications

• PhD in process engineering or materials sciences or polymer chemistry
• Confortable using modelling software, working on nanotechnology and writting scientific communications (A level publications required)
• All national accepted / good english level required

Duration: 2-years period with a starting date planned from march 2015

Location: Montpellier (South of France) with short stay in Aix-en-Provence and Grenoble

Net salary: min 1900 !/month

Contact :

Nathalie GONTARD Stéphane PEYRON

Joint Research Unit : Agropolymers Engineering and Emerging Technologies

Université Montpellier 2,  cc023 – Place E Bataillon 34095 Montpellier

Tel: 33 (0)4 67 14 38 91

Fax: 33 (0)4 67 14 49 90

email:! peyron@um2.fr