You will be in charge of:
This postdoctoral position is part of the Bio-Electro project, funded by the M-ERA.NET, which involves 8 European partners. The Bio-Electro project aims at preparing bio-based and biodegradable electrodes intended for sustainable electrophysiology, using electrocardiography (ECG) as a user case. The new biodegradable electrodes will be composed of nanocellulose (NC) hydrogels or aerogels in combination with biodegradable electroconductive additives and nanoinks allowing efficient ion-to-electron transduction. The electrodes will be produced following new sustainable manufacturing technologies adapted to the generated materials.
The postdoctoral position will focus on the preparation and characterization of cellulose-based aerogels, showing different pore size and morphology.
Aerogels are materials derived from hydrogels in which the liquid phase is replaced by a gas in mild conditions. They are ultra-light, highly porous (> 90%) and present a high specific surface area. Nanocellulose aerogels and their composites have already demonstrated conductivity for electrode fabrication, however, they have not been explored for ECG applications. The postdoctoral position will therefore focus on controlling directional porosity and 3D stability of nanocellulose-based aerogels that facilitate conductivity for electroconductive materials.
This postdoctoral position aims at investigating the arrangement of nanocelluloses as porous architectures. Nanocellulose-based porous materials will be prepared by the freeze-drying process. Two strategies will be used to control pore size and morphology: non-directional (ND) and unidirectional (UD) freezing.1, 2 In the ND procedure, ice crystals grow from the outside to inside the gel in an isotropic manner leading to a honeycomb structure. In the UD procedure, ice crystals are growing from the bottom to the top inside the gel (anisotropic manner), so that CNF densification occurs between ice crystal monoliths leading to lamellar structuration of CNFs wall. For this purpose, we propose the following objectives:
1. To prepare nanocellulose-based aerogels with controlled porosity by non-directional (ND) and unidirectional (UD) freezing.
2. To characterized the properties of aerogels: mechanical, water responsiveness, conductivity.
Send a motivation letter end a CV to :
Céline Moreau / Ana Villares by e-mail: celine.moreau@inrae.fr and ana.villares@inrae.fr
