Biodegradable Polymer Degradation in Compost Environments
Duration of contract: 4 years
Project description:
Plastic waste and the global occurrence of plastic/polymer micro-
and nanoparticles in the environment has been identified as a major concern
regarding environmental health and safety. Most polymer types used in products
nowadays are persistent and undergo only very slow degradation, if at all.
Environmentally friendly alternatives do exist in bio-degradable polymers,
especially PLA and PBAT. It could be shown that these polymers undergo
fragmentation and biodegradation/-mineralization within relatively short
timeframes. Being proposed as suitable materials for collecting household
bio-waste, there is a scientific discussion about how and how fast the
fragmentation and complete biodegradation occurs in composting facilities and
how the degradation proceeds below the fragment particle sizes which still can
be quantified by e.g. Raman microscopy, hence in the size range below 10 µm.
The project is a university-industry collaboration and the objective of this
PhD project is to implement a sampling, sample preparation and analytical
strategy to then quantify the fragmentation and degradation kinetics of
biodegradable polymers in different composting procedures which are conducted
in the EU member states.
Position description:
We are looking for a highly motivated PhD candidate to develop,
coordinate, and carry out the project described above. The candidate will be
supervised by Sarah Pati, Thilo Hofmann and Frank von der Kammer (Department of
Environmental Geosciences, University of Vienna).
The candidate will be responsible for the development and
optimization of the complete analytical workflow required to quantify
degradation kinetics in compost and compost amended soil samples: ranging from
sampling strategies for heterogeneous samples, homogenization, particle
extraction and matrix-separation to the spectral-microscopic identification,
counting and sizing of the polymer fragments found in real-world compost and
soil samples. The candidate will coordinate the scientific work of the
university and industry partners, plan and conduct interlaboratory comparisons
and support the method standardization activities towards CEN/ISO. Comparisons
of degradation efficiencies of different composting regimes in e.g. Austria,
Germany and Italy will be a central part of the case-studies conducted within
this project.
The ideal candidate should meet the following criteria:
background in chemistry, environmental chemistry and analytics or related
fields. Experiences in the analysis of micro-/nanoplastics and/or nanomaterials
in complex environmental samples, working in a laboratory tailored for particle
analysis and motivation to expand those. Excellent written and spoken English;
excellent skills in project planning and independency in problem-solving;
ability to work in a multidisciplinary, international team.
Practical experience in electron- and spectral-microscopic
techniques (e.g. SEM, micro-FTIR, micro-RAMAN) is highly desired.
Apply here https://jobs.univie.ac.at/job/University-assistant-predoctoral/1075004201/
Comments
Post a Comment