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Material formulation for a novel foaming technology
We are looking for highly motivated students to join our recently awarded ETH Pioneer Fellowship project on alternative foaming agents for bio-based plastics. We use a low temperature high-pressure foaming technology for enhancing mechanical properties of bio-based materials.
The goal is to engineer best polymer building block as starting materials for the standing technology and establish their overarching reaction chemistry. Candidates with a background in organic chemistry, cellulose/wood science or material and/or polymer science and interest in renewable resources and circularity are welcome to apply. Students can apply alone for a master (4-6 months) or bachelor thesis (3 months) or for a semester project. Groups of more students can join in case of a semester project.
The tasks will involve working autonomously under supervision on bio-material formulation and later testing the compatibility of the material with a foaming technology.
In the first part chosen material candidates will be tested using rheology, thermal and pressure-temperature-volume analysis. Gelling, polymerization and curing under different conditions will be characterized in different formulations.
In the second part blowing reactions comprising of bubble nucleation, growth and entrapment in combination with the gelling reaction will be studied using high-pressure equipment. The pre-experiments will result in pilot-plant trials using a twin-screw extruder.
The goal is to engineer best polymer building block as starting materials for the standing technology and establish their overarching reaction chemistry. Candidates with a background in organic chemistry, cellulose/wood science or material and/or polymer science and interest in renewable resources and circularity are welcome to apply. Students can apply alone for a master (4-6 months) or bachelor thesis (3 months) or for a semester project. Groups of more students can join in case of a semester project. The tasks will involve working autonomously under supervision on bio-material formulation and later testing the compatibility of the material with a foaming technology. In the first part chosen material candidates will be tested using rheology, thermal and pressure-temperature-volume analysis. Gelling, polymerization and curing under different conditions will be characterized in different formulations. In the second part blowing reactions comprising of bubble nucleation, growth and entrapment in combination with the gelling reaction will be studied using high-pressure equipment. The pre-experiments will result in pilot-plant trials using a twin-screw extruder.
The goal is to formulate a bio-based material compatible with a novel foaming technology and test the blowing/gelling reaction kinetics for the material candidate on a pilot plant scale.
The goal is to formulate a bio-based material compatible with a novel foaming technology and test the blowing/gelling reaction kinetics for the material candidate on a pilot plant scale.