Polyurethane (PU) is one of the most versatile polymers, that appears in an astonishing variety of forms and play a vital role in many industries. Although there are already many different PU materials available, further improvement of the properties as well as development of new functional PU materials will make it suitable to an increased number of applications. In this project, the focus of the research will be on the understanding of mechanism of aromatic isocyanate reactions which will allow further development of novel high performance PU materials, by guiding optimization of the catalysis and reaction conditions. The research activities will include understanding of performance profile of new materials and elucidation of structure property relationships by means of various chemical, structural, rheological and mechanical characterization techniques.

The PD research will be carried out under the supervision of Prof. Željko Tomović in the Polymer Performance Materials group in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry at the TU/e, which is also the part of the interdisciplinary Institute for Complex Molecular Systems (ICMS), in which all polymer-related research groups at the TU/e participate. A description of the group can be found here: https://www.tue.nl/en/research/research-groups/polymer-performance-materials.

The TU/e offers academic education that is driven by fundamental and applied research. We combine scientific curiosity with a hands-on mentality. Our educational philosophy is based on personal attention and room for individual ambitions and talents. Our research meets the highest international standards of quality. We push the limits of science, which puts us at the forefront of rapidly emerging areas of research.