PhD Studentship: Hybrid Materials for Remediation of Metal Ions from Water

I’m currently advertising for a PhD student:

A three-year, full-time, PhD studentship in the Research Institute for the Environment, Physical Sciences and Applied Mathematics (EPSAM), Keele University, UK. The Studentship is available to start in October 2010 and includes a full stipend of approximately £12,000 per year and all fees paid at current UK/EU rates.

Project Description

Heavy metal contaminated water represents a major health and economic problem globally, particularly in the developing world. Metal contamination arises from a number of sources such as mining, industrial and urban wastes and is a problem which may be exacerbated through the use of contaminated water sources for drinking or irrigation.  Existing technologies for metal remediation include ion exchange but may produce poor results, particularly if recovery of the metal ions is desired.

The aim of the proposed research is to synthesize and test new  hybrid materials for the selective removal of heavy metal contamination from waste water.

First generation poly(amidoamine) dendron with triethoxysilane root suitable for grafting onto zeolite MFI;  structure of MFI (Si – orange, O – red); surface of zeolite with grafted dendron with bound copper ions

Hybrid materials, combining inorganic compounds such as zeolites with organic compounds such as polymers, are widely researched as the properties of the hybrid may be superior to those of the individual components.   Zeolites are insoluble in water but can be used as recoverable ion exchangers, while dendrimers are soluble in water, contain ligand groups suitable for metal binding but are unlikely to be recovered from solution easily.  By combining the properties of both materials into one hybrid, a superior system for the removal of metal ions from aqueous solution can be devised.

This project will involve synthesising dendrons such as poly(amidoamine) with triethoxysilane roots and a variety of terminal groups using a range of organic synthesis and characterisation techniques.   The dendrons will then be grafted onto nano-sized zeolites with proven ion exchange capacity and fully characterised by NMR, IR, fluorescence and XRD.  These hybrid materials will be tested for the removal of various metal ions from solution and recovered by filtration or centrifugation.

The successful candidate will work directly with Dr. Katherine Haxton in the Birchall Centre in the School of Physical and Geographical Sciences.  There will also be opportunities to collaborate with other members of the EPSAM research institute and other academic groups throughout the UK.  Applicants should have a good first degree in the chemical sciences and an interest synthetic and analytical chemistry.

For an informal discussion about the studentship, please get in touch.