Postdoctoral Research Fellow for Polymer Sorbent Development for CO2 Capture at University of Ottawa

Location: University of Ottawa

Career Level: Intermediate Level

Who are we?

This is a role with University of Ottawa.

Purpose of the Role:

We are seeking a qualified postdoctoral fellow candidate to work at the University of Ottawa on a collaborative project between the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Mitacs, and Svante. The candidate will be employed through the University of Ottawa under the supervision of Professor Abdel Sayari. Combining an in-depth knowledge of synthetic polymer chemistry with expertise in CO2 capture, we seek a candidate to conduct experimentation in synthesizing or altering polymers, aiming to develop CO2 capture sorbents with significantly enhanced performance/lifetime.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• You have Ph.D. (in chemistry/polymer chemistry/organic chemistry or relevant majors) with several years of related research experience.
• You have expertise in organic synthesis, purification, polymer modification, polymerization reactions.
  
• You have adaptability to change and comfortable with broad job functions such as sourcing, method development, etc.
• You are self-motivated, passionate, and creative about bringing new ideas to the sorbent team.

Bonus Skills and Qualifications:

• You have hands-on experience in carbon-capture sorbents development.
• You have expertise in characterization techniques, e.g., TGA, Sorption gas analyzers, FTIR, SEM, XRD, NMR, etc.
• You have the skills in chemistry/computational software such as chem draw, Mercury, GCMC simulation, Ab Initio Calculations, and other methods.
• you are familiar with the Design of Experiments (DOE).

What Success looks like in this role:

• You will work with uOttawa and Svante on seeking and applying scalable and cost-effective methods for new polymer sorbent development, especially on the synthesis or modification of amine-based polymers for high-performance carbon capture with excellent oxidation stability.
• You will actively monitor research and developments that are directly and indirectly related to next-generation CO2 sorbents.
• You will document experimental records, observation, data analysis and summarization.
• You will conduct lab work on CO2 sorbent synthesis at small scales in labs and potentially conduct pre-industrial scaling up organic sorbent synthesis works based on bench-scale results.
• You will improve sorbent synthesis, post-treatment, and performance of sorbents already developed in-house.