Passive fire protection increases safety by delaying fire damage and slowing down its progression, thereby providing time for evacuation and intervention. Despite extensive efforts, the death of thousands of people and the destruction of billions of euros of material, yearly, emphasizes the limited effectiveness of current technologies. Intumescent coatings are designed to be easy to use, light weight, durable and compatible with modern architecture aesthetics, which makes them the most attractive option. Their effectiveness depends on both their homogeneity and their swelling ratio. However, industrial developments in the field of intumescence are rapidly slowing down as the constitutive chemistry is reaching its ultimate performance.

This project offers to break away from the chemical approach and investigate an innovative physical concept based on the vaporization of microcapsules. Upon heating, these capsules absorb a large amount of heat from their vicinity and vaporize. Consequently, these capsules can undergo a volume increase of several thousand times, far beyond what current chemistry-based technologies can reach.

Firstly, the candidate will first use the state-of-the-art microfluidic technology available in the Physics of Fluids group to produce and investigate such particles, including their vaporization dynamics observed using high-speed imaging at up to 25 million frames per second. The candidate will investigate their physical interactions and design the requirements and the techniques to control the vaporization of a suspension of these agents. Secondly, the candidate will work in close collaboration with PPG, leader in intumescent and protective coatings to investigate the effect of a viscoelastic polymer matrix and to design a prototype of this new generation of coatings to be tested in industrial conditions.

The project will rely on the combined expertise of our international collaborators and predominantly on experimental work, but will also include some theoretical and simulation work.

Keywords: Bubble/intumescent coatings/heat and mass transfer/vaporization/viscoelasticity/fire protection

We are looking for highly motivated candidates with a MSc degree in engineering, physics, micro or nanotechnology, or related topic. You should be an enthusiastic person with well-developed communication skills. You should be capable of working independently as well as in a multidisciplinary team. Innovative and creative thinking are other requirements.

Information and application

If this offer interests you, please contact Dr. Ir. Guillaume Lajoinie (g.p.r.lajoinie@utwente.nl) or Prof. Michel Versluis (m.versluis@utwente.nl) for more information. Your application must consist of a short motivation letter, a curriculum vitae and Copies of relevant diplomas and grade lists. Candidates should upload their application before 1 august 2019 using the application button below.

As a PhD candidate you will be offered a full-time (38 hours/week) position for four years, after which you should have completed your PhD thesis. In accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, the gross monthly salary for a PhD increases from € 2325,-- in the first year to € 2972,-- in the final year plus a holiday allowance (8%), an end-year bonus (8.3% of the annual salary) and a number of additional benefits. The University of Twente provides excellent campus facilities, and actively supports professional and personal development.

The University of Twente. We stand for life sciences and technology. High tech and human touch. Education and research that matter. New technology which leads change, innovation and progress in society. The University of Twente is the only campus university of the Netherlands; divided over five faculties we provide more than fifty educational programmes. We have a strong focus on personal development and talented researchers are given scope for carrying out groundbreaking research.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status. Because of our diversity values we do particularly support women to apply.

Within the TNW Faculty (Faculty of Science & Technology) of the University of Twente some 700 staff members and 2000 students are involved in training and research on the interface of chemical technology, applied physics and biomedical technology. Fields of application include sustainable energy, process technology and materials science, nanotechnology and technical medicine. Research, which enjoys a high profile both at home and internationally, has been accommodated in the multidisciplinary research institutes: Mesa+ Institute, TechMed Centra and Digital Society Institute. The faculty works together intensively with industrial partners and researchers in the Netherlands and abroad and conducts extensive research for external commissioning parties and funders.