Are you eager to work on the next step in polymer recycling which goes beyond shredding and mixing?
And are you driven to make an impact on the sustainability of plastic materials?
Then this PhD position is an excellent fit for you!
About the Research At TU/e, materials research is a cornerstone of our academic mission, with polymers and soft matter recognized as a major theme. Within the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Processing and Performance (P&P) research group aims to revolutionize the design of polymer products and shaping processes. We are transitioning from traditional trial-and-error approaches to virtual prototyping powered by quantitative predictive models.
The P&P group bridges the gap between molecular design, processing techniques, and end-product properties. Our research spans the entire spectrum of polymer rheology, processing, and mechanical performance, targeting both the fluid (processing) and solid (properties) states. This integrated approach combines sophisticated experimental techniques, rheological modeling, and reliable predictive modeling to tackle real-world challenges.
About the Project Despite significant efforts to recycle plastic waste efficiently, traditional recycling methods face critical limitations. These methods often involve costly, energy-intensive processes that fail to meet stringent purification requirements for sensitive applications like food packaging and medical products.
In this PhD project, you will develop a novel recycling approach leveraging the sensitivity of polyolefin crystallization and melting behaviors to typical processing conditions such as extrusion and injection molding. By exploiting these unique characteristics, you will aim to achieve precise separation and spatial fractionation of polymer mixtures based on polyolefin type and molecular weight. This innovative methodology has the potential to overcome the limitations of conventional recycling, offering sustainable solutions for high-purity applications.
- Identify the processing conditions, i.e., flow fields and temperature profiles, that seem most effective in molecular phase separation at the nanoscale.
- Develop an experimental toolkit to inform and validate these predictive models.
- Compare the de-mixing efficiency for different material compositions and molecular weights.
The results of your project will facilitate the efficient removal of undesirable components in mixed waste-streams, thereby significantly enhancing the performance and quality of polyolefin recyclates. Importantly, this innovative technique needs to be designed for seamless integration into existing compounding lines, offering a practical and scalable solution to overcome current recycling inefficiencies while advancing sustainability in high-value applications.