PostDoc in Unraveling the role of additives in the mechanical recycling of polyolefin blends

The Circular Plastics research group at Maastricht University is looking for a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to join our team in understanding and developing additive-based solutions for the recycling of polyolefin blends.

Job Description
Understanding the processing-structure-property relationship is extremely important for producing high-quality products from recycled polyolefins like PE and PP. To date, effective European recycling rates of polyolefins are stuck at around 40%, and one of the main bottlenecks is an understanding of how these polymers – often cross-contaminated with each other – behave and interact during the recycling process.

These polyolefin mixtures are usually immiscible, leading to phase separation and heterogeneous morphologies. The final properties of the blends are strongly dependent on the final morphology, which depends on, for instance, the processing conditions, viscosity ratio, interfacial tension, and their volume fractions. The use of compatibilizers can substantially affect the morphology and, therefore, the performance of the blends. How do these compatibilizer additives behave during mechanical recycling?

At the same time, many efforts are being made to design advanced additives to control polymer structure during repeated melt processing of plastics. These efforts mainly aim to find a balance between polymer structure and melt viscosity, thus achieving optimized recyclability.

Despite their central role, the impact of many additives, including compatibilizers and processing aids, have not been systematically characterized in recycled plastics when they undergo re-processing. This issue is even more challenging considering the cross-contamination among different additives. Motivated by such questions, in the PlastiCycle project, we aim to explore the role of such additives by pinning their fundamental physicochemical interactions in recycled polyolefins.

In this project, your responsibilities as a postdoctoral researcher will include:

• Establish insights into blend morphology, additive localization, and their impact on interfacial, processing, and mechanical properties.
• Establish the relationship between additives and the general degradation of blends during multiple closed-loop recycling steps.
• Communicating and working in collaboration with interdisciplinary colleagues (e.g. chemometrics/data science/system modelling). Providing experimental information to build data-driven models to provide novel insights.
• Manage a work package in the PlastiCycle project.
• Present your work at international conferences, PlastiCycle consortium meetings, and other events.
• Write/assist in developing grant proposals.
• Write scientific papers for peer-reviewed journals.
• Provide teaching assistance and/or supervision of researchers and students.

As a Postdoctoral Researcher you will work in the Circular Plastics team in the Faculty of Science and Engineering located at Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen. You will become part of a young international research group, specialized in the mechanical recycling of plastics with a strong polymer science background.

Requirements
We expect you to have the following experience, knowledge, and skills:

• A PhD degree in Polymer Engineering, Materials Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or similar.
• Ability to plan and conduct coherent activities to address the project goals.
• Expressive experience and deep understanding of the main physicochemical characterization techniques, including rheology, GPC, SEM, TEM, and AFM.
• Good knowledge of tensile and impact tests, DSC, and TGA.
• Good skills and knowledge of polymer processing.
• Good knowledge of IR/Raman spectroscopy is a plus.
• Experience with industry collaborations is considered advantageous.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English.

What we offer
As PostDoc in Unraveling the role of additives in the mechanical recycling of polyolefin blends at Faculty of Science & Engineering, you will be employed by the most international university in the Netherlands, located in the beautiful city of Maastricht. In addition, we offer you:

• Good employment conditions. The position is graded in scale 11 according to UFO profile Researcher, with corresponding salary based on experience ranging from €4492,00 and €6148,00 gross per month (based on a full-time employment of 38 hours per week). In addition to the monthly salary, an 8.0% holiday allowance and an 8.3% year-end bonus apply.
• An employment contract for a period of 24 months with a scope of 1,0 FTE.
• At Maastricht University, the well-being of our employees is of utmost importance, we offer flexible working hours and the possibility to work partly from home if the nature of your position allows it. You will receive a monthly commuting and internet allowance for this. If you work full-time, you will be entitled to 29 vacation days and 4 additional public holidays per year, namely carnival Monday, carnival Tuesday, Good Friday, and Liberation Day. If you choose to accumulate compensation hours, an additional 12 days will be added. Furthermore, you can personalize your employment conditions through a collective labor agreement (CAO) choice model.
• As Maastricht University, we offer various other excellent secondary employment conditions. These include a good pension scheme with the ABP and the opportunity for UM employees to participate in company fitness and make use of the extensive sports facilities that we also offer to our students.
• Last but certainly not least, we provide the space and facilities for your personal and professional development. We facilitate this by offering a wide range of training programs and supporting various well-established initiatives such as 'acknowledge and appreciate'.

The terms of employment at Maastricht University are largely set out in the collective labor agreement of Dutch Universities. In addition, local provisions specific to UM apply. For more information, click here.

Maastricht University
Why work at Maastricht University?

At Maastricht University (UM), everything revolves around the future. The future of our students, as we work to equip them with a solid, broad-based foundation for the rest of their lives. And the future of society, as we seek solutions through our research to issues from all around the world. Our six faculties combined provide a comprehensive package of study programmes and research.

In our teaching, we use the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) method. Students work in small groups, looking for solutions to problems themselves. By discussing issues and working together to draw conclusions, formulate answers and present them to their peers, students develop essential skills for their future careers.

With over 22,300 students and more than 5,000 employees from all over the world, UM is home to a vibrant and inspiring international community.

Are you drawn to an international setting focused on education, science and scholarship? Are you keen to contribute however your skills and qualities allow? Our door is open to you! As a young European university, we value your talent and look forward to creating the future together.

Click here for more information about UM.

Faculty of Science and Engineering
At the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE), we focus on themes such as circularity and sustainability, future farming, digitisation and (scientific) instrument development. FSE's leading projects, like the Einstein Telescope Pathfinder, are sure to grab anyone's attention. The faculty is a vibrant hub of education and research in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS). At FSE, over 450 staff members and 3700 students gather to explore e exciting interdisciplinary research and educational programmes. Feel welcome, be part of our team and put your brilliant mind to work!

FSE at the Brightlands Campuses
Maastricht, Sittard-Geleen, Heerlen, and Venlo, the home of four creative Brightlands campuses, are bustling with 30,000 entrepreneurs, researchers, and students working diligently to solve global challenges. The Faculty of Science and Engineering is active on all four Brightlands campuses, and this is where our impact reaches its peak. To give you an idea of what is happening at each campus: Sittard-Geleen is home to the largest chemical site in the Euregion, while Venlo is a large hub for agri-food innovation. Maastricht is the site of the Health Campus, and Heerlen is the place to be for Smart Services.

Department of Circular Chemical Engineering – Circular Plastics team
Circular Plastics focuses on polymer engineering and science to improve the recycling of plastics, with an emphasis on mechanical recycling. Scientifically, we investigate polymers from macromolecular interactions up to macroscopic behaviour in both liquid and solid states to identify where and how recycled plastics can be enhanced. Industrially, we translate this science into applications to support companies in increasing both the quality and quantity of plastics recycling.

Curious?
Are you interested in this exciting position but still have questions? Feel free to contact Dr. Ali Gooneie at ali.gooneie@maastrichtuniversity.nl for more information.

Applying?
Or are you already convinced and ready to become our new postdoctoral researcher? Then apply now, for this position.

Please upload your academic CV, motivation letter, grade list, and publications list.

The vacancy is open for external candidates.

We accept applications until the vacancy is filled.
Maastricht University is committed to promoting and nurturing a diverse and inclusive community. We believe that diversity in our staff and student population contributes to the quality of research and education at UM and strive to enable this through inclusive policies and innovative projects led by teams of staff and students. We encourage you to apply for this position.