Research Associate in Carbon Mineralisation Process Chemistry

South Kensington Campus, Imperial College London

Fixed term for 12 months

Job Summary

Applications are encouraged for a Research Associate position as part of a two-year research project that strives to develop low-carbon sustainable cementitious materials and construction products from magnesium silicates, via a new carbon mineralisation / CCUS technology developed at Imperial College London. The outputs of this novel technology are an amorphous precipitated silica supplementary cementitious material (SCM) and sequestered CO­₂ in the form of magnesium carbonate. The technology is to be commercialised through Imperial spin-out, Seratech (https://seratechcement.com/).

Duties and responsibilities

• This post will assist in developing and optimising the carbon mineralisation and reagent regeneration steps of the process.
• For each stage of the process, you will explore the effect of various reaction parameters, such as temperature, duration and flue gas composition, on kinetics, efficiencies and yields. Several options to regenerate the reagents will be trialled over several loops to establish viability based on efficiencies, energy and economic assessments.
• The research will require the use of analytical chemistry and standard laboratory techniques to verify the process. Data will be used to acquire a complete understanding of the reactions and optimise these for implementation at an industrial scale. Experimentation will be supplemented by chemical modelling e.g. Aspen.
• The project will require regular contributions to a variety of academic tasks, including project management, supervision of Masters and PhD students, and demonstrating research excellence and leadership to junior members of the Seratech research group.
• There will also be some commercial-focused tasks including communicating with internal and external collaborators to guide product development, writing research proposals and developing IP.
• You will collaborate initially with four postdocs and one PhD student also working on the project, and the team is anticipated to grow throughout the project.
• You will receive strong mentoring in a highly stimulating academic research environment, with access to internationally leading academics, industrial partners, research facilities, and networks.

Essential requirements

• Hold a PhD in engineering, science or a closely related field, or equivalent research, industrial or commercial experience
• Experience of process development and optimisation
• Knowledge of material and process chemistry
• Productive track record of publishing high-quality papers in peer-reviewed journals
• Willingness to work as part of a team and to be open-minded and cooperative

Further Information

Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as Research Assistant.

For informal enquiries about the post please contact Professor Hong Wong on  hong.wong@imperial.ac.uk.

Further information is available in the job description.

Any queries regarding the application process should be addressed to Briony Webb at b.webb@imperial.ac.uk.

For technical issues when applying online please email support.jobs@imperial.ac.uk.

Closing Date: 3 March 2023.

To apply, visit www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs and search by the job reference ENG02494.

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