PhD: Flow-induced structuring of emulsions and bijels stabilized by interfacially localized particles and crystals
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
interfacially localized particles and crystals
(ref. BAP-2023-114)
Last modification : Tuesday, February 28, 2023
The PhD project will be performed in the Soft Matter Rheology and Technology (SMaRT) section in the Chemical Engineering Department at KU Leuven under the supervision of Profs. Erin Koos and Ruth Cardinaels. The research in the SMaRT group is primarily experimental and aims at designing methodologies for intelligent process or product (formulation) design using complex fluids and other soft matter materials. Extensive state-of-the-art and home-built experimental facilities for the characterization of mechanical properties in the liquid state (bulk as well as interfacial rheology), combined with various techniques to characterize microstructure development during flow are available.
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ProjectMany classes of soft matter consist of multiple phases such asliquid-in-liquid emulsions and blends, solid-in-liquid suspensions and gas-in-liquidfoams. In these materials, the internal microstructure can be exploited togenerate synergistic combinations of material properties or even to introducenovel material functionalities. Whereas most structures generated underequilibrium conditions are isotropic, anisotropy (i.e. directionally dependentfeatures) are often desired. Such anisotropy is typically generated during flow,and by clever manipulation of the timescales of relaxation and fixation of thegenerated structures, we can “freeze in” such anisotropy. In the presentproject, the aim is to develop emulsions with an anisotropic structure that is preservedby formation of a particle-covered or crystalline network at the interface.Under quiescent conditions, such structures are known as colloidosomes andcrystalsomes, but the effects of concurrent flow during microstructuregeneration remains largely unexplored. The aim is to develop a fundamentalunderstanding of the microstructure development that will allow to engineer themicrostructure by inducing controllable anisotropies. Therefore,state-of-the-art rheo-optical and rheo-spectroscopic characterization toolswill be used and modification of existing techniques is anticipated to be requiredto probe anisotropy. This PhD project forms part of the CONCIOUS (Controlled enhanced softmatter microstructures via the fundamental understanding of formation timescalecompetition) project within the SMaRT group, which involves a group of 4 PhDstudents, each focusing on a different class of soft matter materials.
ProfileA full-time employment for fouryears, with an intermediate evaluation after one year.
To support you during your PhDand to prepare you for the rest of your career, you will participate in theArenberg Doctoral School doctoral training program (Doctoral Training – Arenberg Doctoral School (kuleuven.be)).
Candidates can apply by submitting their CV, motivation letter and gradelists via the online application tool. Please also include the names andcontact details of at least two senior researchers that are willing to write aletter of recommendation upon request.
For more information please contact Prof. dr. Erin Koos, tel.: +32 16 37 63 47, mail: [email protected] or Prof. dr. Ruth Cardinaels, tel.: +32 16 32 16 88, mail: [email protected]
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