Project and Internship

This project aims at discovering new catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation. This reaction enables to convert CO2, a heat-trapping greenhouse gas, into strategic small molecules such as methanol or formic acid.[1] The latter find applications in many areas including fine chemistry, medicines, plastics, paints… Catalysts targetted in this project are copper nanoparticles (NPs) with perfectly defined shapes and sizes recently discovered in our laboratory (collaborations : Pr. Alexa Courty et Pr. Hélène Gérard, Sorbonne Université).[2] These copper NPs are prepared from cheap precursors via an economical, fast and versatile route. Moreover, a wide variety of nanoobjects can be obtained (nanowires, nanohexagones, nanotriangles, nanocubes, see Figure below).

Objectives

The intern will be in charge of :

– preparing batches of copper NPs with various morphologies in collaboration with a PhD student.
– achieving catalytic reaction of CO2 hydrogenation in the presence of these NPs in an autoclave
– analysing the molecules formed by usual analytical techniques in molecular chemistry (gas and liquid
chromatographies, nuclear magnetic resonance…).

Skills required

Knowledge in molecular chemistry and/or in catalysis are required. The applicant will have to be motivated by the challenge.

Details for application

Thanks to send a resume to A. Ouali armelle.ouali@enscm.fr