KTH in Stockholm is the largest and oldest technical university in Sweden. No less than one-third of Sweden’s technical research and engineering education capacity at university level is provided by KTH. Education and research spans from natural sciences to all branches of engineering and includes architecture, industrial management and urban planning. There are a total of just over 15,000 first and second level students and more than 1,600 doctoral students. KTH has almost 4,300 employees.

The School of Chemical Science and Engineering includes the areas Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Fibre and Polymer technology. It encompasses both fundamental and applied chemical sciences and seeks sustainable development through scientific excellence. Many research activities are interdisciplinary across the borders from chemistry to materials science, environmental science, biochemistry, biology and medicine. The School offers a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Science and Engineering, Higher Education Diploma in Chemical Engineering and three international Master programs Chemical Engineering for Energy and the Environment, Macromolecular Materials and Molecular Science and Engineering. We cooperate also with the Master programs Energy and Environment , Materials design and Biotechnology.

Project description – Polymer Materials division

As a PhD-student you will be developing and characterizing foams according to the project description:

Using the freeze-drying technique we have shown that it is possible to make wheat gluten foams. It is possible vary, in a controlled way, the cell structure by altering the foam material composition and the freezing conditions. We have also shown that the foams have very appealing fire properties; the material does not drip, the fire self-extinguishes and a large part of the material survives as a char skeleton. Hence it may be possible to avoid flame-retardants in the final foams. Most foams are rigid and easy to machine, however, we have also been able to make soft foams with a denser backing/support. The foams have mainly open cells, suitable for sound insulation, but for heat insulation purposes we need to obtain a very high porosity with small closed cells. As the need to insulate houses more effectively increases the thickness of the insulation, with today’s materials, must be thicker and thicker. Hence there is a need to improve the insulation properties beyond todays state of the art technology. In the proposed project we aim at ultra-insulation properties using wheat gluten. The approach is to obtain high porosity with very small closed cells by 1) changing the foam process, 2) adding nucleation agents, 3) increasing the strength of the cell walls using nanofillers and/or 4) changing the gluten molecular structure.

The work will be performed in collaboration with SLU, Alnarp.

Eligibility and Assessment Criteria

The potential candidate must have a Master’s degree with a focus on materials science, chemistry, plant science, physics or food science or a corresponding degree. Special qualifications in polymer technology or protein science will be regarded as an advantage when comparing different applicants.

The candidate should be highly motivated for doing scientific research and should have well developed analytical and problem solving skills.

Employment

Form of employment: Time limited
Starting date: According to agreement

Application procedure

Application should be sent electronically to Inga Persson, inpe@kth.se  
The application marked with reference no must include the following:

1. CV including education and relevant academic/work experience
2. Official record of transcripts and copy of degree certificate
3. Cover letter (maximum 1 page)

Deadline for application is 2012-03-09
Reference number: K-2012-0045

Contact

Mikael Hedenqvist, Professor
Phone: +46 8 790 76 45, +46 70 650 76 45
mikaelhe@kth.se              

Trade Union representative

Lars Abrahamsson, SACO
Phone: +46 8 790 70 58
lars.abrahamsson@ee.kth.se