Master/PhD student/Postdoc Positions Available in Chinese Academy of Sciences

Positions for Master/PhD student/Postdoc are available in Prof. Peng-Cheng Ma’s group in The Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (XJIPC-CAS). The institute is one of the research units affiliated to CAS, and it locates in Urumqi, China, a city with distinctively historic and cultural atmosphere. Major research activities in the group are: i) Fiber science and technology; 2) Composites/nanocomposites for separation science and technology.

Currently, the group consists of 10 research staffs and 18 students (6 PhD students, and 12 MSc students), with different backgrounds in chemistry, physics, material science and engineering, textile, and so on. The research motto of group is “Simplicity is beautiful”, i.e., to employ simple but effective idea to develop novel materials for the sustainable development of our society. The group has attracted quite a number of research grants and funded projects from both government and industry with particular emphasis on applied R&D activities. The successful candidate will be enrolled and registered by the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and finish respective research project in XJIPC-CAS.

More information on Professor Ma can be found at: http://people.ucas.ac.cn/~mapc.

Description on projects:

Position 1: High performance basalt fiber

Basalt fiber is an inorganic filament made from basalt ore, this fiber has attracted great attention as reinforcement for composites in recent years. However, the wide applications of basalt fiber in composites are not achieved so far. One of the major concerns is that the measured strength (~2000 MPa) of basalt fiber is significantly lower than the expected value (>3000 MPa). This project aims at developing high-performance fiber by using basalt ore in local area. Fabrication of highly conductive basalt fiber will also be arranged by using functional sizing or dip-coating process, and the electrical, mechanical performance of the fiber will be studied.

Students majoring in material chemistry, mineralogy, textile, are encouraged to apply. Candidates with experience on fiber science and technology, sizing, functional ceramics, will be given a high priority.

Position 2: Nanocomposites for the separation of water in fuel

A small amount of water is presented in various liquid fuels during the refining and storage of the liquid, and the dehydration in the fuel is particularly important to ensure the safety issues of transportation vehicles. This project focuses on the development of nanocomposites for separating water from oil. Composites/nanocomposites with controllable surface hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties will be prepared, and their separation efficiency will be studied. Simulation will be employed to study the effectiveness of materials for the separation process. A particular emphasis will be put to establish the correlation between the micro-structure and macro-scale separation efficiency of material.

Students majoring in material science and engineering, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, are encouraged to apply. Candidates with experience on polymer composites/nanocomposites, separation science and technology, simulation and modeling will be given a high priority.

Position 3: Fiber-based particulate filters: fabrication and modeling

Natural gas is not quite ready for use when it is produced – because freshly-produced gas generally contains contaminating gasses, plus liquid and solid contaminants. Besides, particles in the intake air could significantly impact the performance and efficiency of gas turbines and turbo compressors, which are used for the long-distance gas transmission. In this project, we aim to put up with robust, resilient material-driven solutions for gas purification, as well as the use of data-driven models and AI-embedded engineering for clean filtration. Simulations will be performed to evaluate the in-use implications of material.

Students majoring in chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, and applied physics are encouraged to apply. Candidates with a background in artificial intelligence-based computational fluid dynamics will be given a high priority.

Position 4: Conductive composite membrane for oil-water separation

Membrane filtration (MF) is considered to be the most perspective method of water treatment. However, membrane fouling remains a major bottleneck limiting membrane separation efficiency in water and wastewater treatment. Electrocoagulation (EC) process has become potentially feasible for mitigating membrane fouling in MF process. This project aims at developing a novel electrocoagulation-membrane filtration (EC-MF) integrated process in which electrocoagulation and membrane are placed into one reactor, and conductive composite membranes serve as cathode. The physicochemical properties of developed membrane cathode materials, and the sludge flocs generated will be investigated to understand the separation of oil/water emulsions and antifouling mechanism of the novel process. Prototype separation apparatus will be constructed by using the prepared material.

Students majoring in material chemistry, chemical and process engineering, environmental engineering are encouraged to apply for this position. Candidates with experience on separation science and technology, environmental electrochemistry, conductive composites, will be given a high priority.

For all of these positions, suitable students should have high level of initiativeness, good command of English, and potential for academic development, as verified by publications in international journals, patents, academic transcripts, and so on. For these who are interested in this position, please send your enquiry, transcript and CV to Dr. Hui Li, E-mail: li_hui@ms.xjb.ac.cn.

Kindly note that the deadline for the application is 31 December, 2022. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted and an online interview will be arranged.