PhD Research Studentships
The Design and Fabrication of High-Strength Micro-Structured Materials
| Supervisor: | Colin CRICK |
| Apply by: | 29 January 2025 |
| Start in: | September (Semester 1) |
Description
The proposed PhD project would examine the fabrication of liquid-repellent polymer nanocomposites for use in the real world. This project would include fabricating and optimising materials with a large degree of physical strength within these nano/microscale surfaces. The project also aims to use resilience modelling (i.e., tensile, shear, and compression resistance) to optimise materials, with an additional aim of using machine learning to search for the most resilient surface architectures.
The project's main focus will be the practical fabrication/ testing of materials, made via bulk fabrication techniques, coating (spin/dip/spray), and microfabrication, in addition to supplementary techniques. Practical strength testing will be conducted, with real-time physical damage tracked using nanomechanical imaging (x-ray microscopy). The final stages will aim to demonstrate the ‘real-world’ performance of the materials, focusing on superhydrophobicity and the maintenance of materials properties under application-specific conditions. The materials developed will show great relevance to the many commercial/research areas (e.g. heat exchange, catalysis, chemical storage, superhydrophobicity, and drug delivery).
Funding
Funded by: China Scholarship CouncilCandidate will need to secure a CSC scholarship.
Under the scheme, Queen Mary will provide scholarships to cover all tuition fees, whilst the CSC will provide living expenses and one return flight ticket to successful applicants.
Eligibility
- The minimum requirement for this studentship opportunity is a good honours degree (minimum 2(i) honours or equivalent) or MSc/MRes in a relevant discipline.
- If English is not your first language, you will require a valid English certificate equivalent to IELTS 6.5+ overall with a minimum score of minimum score of 6.0 in each of Writing, Listening, Reading and Speaking).
- Candidates are expected to start in September (Semester 1).
Contact
For informal enquiries about this opportunity, please contact Colin CRICK.
Apply
Start an application for this studentship and for entry onto the PhD Materials Science full-time programme (Semester 1 / September start):
Please be sure to quote the reference "SEMS-PHD-608" to associate your application with this studentship opportunity.
| Related website: | https://www.sems.qmul.ac.uk/staff/c.crick | |
| SEMS Research Centre: | ||
| Keywords: | Inorganic Chemistry, Polymer Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Nanotechnology, Materials Science - Other, Polymers |