Post Doc Fellowship: Plasmon-mediated Catalysis

Information about the research project
Small improvements in efficiency or selectivity of catalysts, frequently used in the chemical industry, result in billions of euros of revenue increase, as well as reduced environmental impact. Catalytic nanoparticles are also of central importance for pollution mitigation and in sustainable energy technologies. For these reasons, unraveling new ways of enhancing and steering catalytic processes has an enormous potential impact.

The focus of this Post Doc project is thus on the nanofabrication, characterization and evaluation of catalyst model systems for the investigation of novel plasmonic hot-electron mediated reaction pathways on transition metal nanoparticles. The use of a nanofabricated model-system approach is expected to bring new mechanistic insights in the phenomenon as such, as well as to enable the construction of tailored plasmonic-catalytic nanoarchitectures that facilitate the use of a wide range of metal nanoparticle systems for plasmon-mediated catalysis.

To address these topics you will work at the interface of nanoplasmonics, catalysis, surface science and advanced nanofabrication, and rely on the Langhammer group’s state of the art customized infrastructure for single particle plasmonic nanospectroscopy and catalysis, and on Chalmers’ world-class nanofabrication infrastructure in the MC2 cleanroom micro- and nanofabrication laboratory. You will be part of and operate in an international, dynamic and rapidly expanding environment where numerous tightly interlinked projects, partly shared with a team of research leaders at two other departments at Chalmers, will create a very stimulating and creative environment. Moreover, at the Chemical Physics Division hosting the Langhammer group, we have world-class research in first-principle based theory of catalytic processes, which creates a unique setting for the project by enabling a direct in-house link between our experimental efforts and state-of-the-art theory.

Conceptually, the project is directly related to our recent work published in Nature Materials (2015, doi:10.1038/nmat4409) Advanced Optical Materials (2015, doi:10.1002/adom.201500284) and Nano Letters (2014, doi:10.1021/nl500514y). 

Major responsibilities
You will work with nanofabrication, characterization and evaluation of hot-electron effects in catalytic processes at the ensemble and the single nanoparticle level. Key parts of the work will be:
- Nanofabrication of complex catalytic-plasmonic hybrid nanoparticle arrangements for the engineering of plasmonic and catalytic sites for hot electron catalysis
- Single particle plasmonic nanospectroscopy
- Mass spectrometry
- Characterization and evaluation of fabricated samples

Position summary
The position is a personal stipend according to Chalmers rules. The position is limited to maximum 2 years (1+1) full-time research.

Qualifications
You must have a PhD in Chemistry with focus on (photo)catalysis or a PhD in Physics with focus on chemical physics/photocatalysis that is not older than 2 years when you start the position. You must have experience with the design and evaluation of (photo)catalysts and (photo)catalytic processes. A truly cross-disciplinary PhD is a merit because the project is at the interface of several disciplines. In addition, experience with nanofabrication in cleanroom environment and hands-on experience with nanoplasmonics, as well as with a model-system type of catalysis research is a merit. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the work, which involves collaborations within the group but also internationally, you are expected to have excellent collaboration skills, as well as excellent skills in English, both orally and in writing.

Information about the research group
The Langhammer group at the Division for Chemical Physics, Department of Applied Physics, operates at the interface between materials science, nanoscience, nanoplasmonics, catalysis and in situ spectroscopy, with a particular focus on sustainable energy-related materials and nanoparticles. For that purpose we continuously develop and evolve our own methodologies for state-of-the-art nanofabrication, as well as build our own customized research instrumentation. As a group, we strive for being a dynamic, international and multidisciplinary work environment where teamwork and creativity are stimulated and highly valued, and where achieving the highest possible quality and impact in our work is the key guideline. Moreover, we continuously look for opportunities to commercialize our research.

Chalmers continuously strives to be an attractive employer. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.

Application deadline: 15 December 2015


For questions, please contact:
Associate professor Christoph Langhammer
Chemical Physics
E-mail: clangham@chalmers.se
Phone +46 73 652 89 80

*** Chalmers declines to consider all offers of further announcement publishing or other types of support for the recruiting process in connection with this position. ***