PhD position in High-Performance Hydrogel Research in Zürich

We are looking for a talented, enthusiastic, and creative individual to fill a PhD position in the field of high-performance hydrogel materials. The position will be based in the Macromolecular Engineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering at ETH Zürich, Switzerland and provides great opportunities to work on cutting-edge hydrogel technologies as part of an interdisciplinary research team. The project is part of an Ambizione grant and is funded by the SNSF. The successful applicant will be working under the supervision of Dr. Stefan Mommer.

The molecular design of high-performance hydrogels with toughness and elasticity similar to rubber is an emerging area of research in the engineering of polymeric materials. To effectively dissipate energy throughout the network, slide-ring gels (SRG) have been designed using slidable crosslinks that can freely translocate along the polymer backbones. Compared to conventionally crosslinked networks, they exhibit unique mechanical properties, e.g., extensive stretchability, highly elastic response to deformation, improved stiffness and fracture toughness, among others. This project aims to investigate a new strategy to generate such slide ring gels using high-affinity host-guest inclusion complexation. The used host-guest system of choice exhibits strong binding interactions that will be used to advance current SRGs. With careful investigation and establishment of the proposed modular platform, a new generation of slide ring gels will be generated that will pave the way to high-performance materials with unique, promising physicochemical and mechanical properties.

Your main task will be the planning and execution of experimental lab work as well as the formal analysis and processing of data. Within the project this includes:

1. Organic synthesis of a variety of host-guest binding motifs with varying affinity constants as well as their spectroscopic characterisation.
2. Synthesis of polymers containing the host-guest binding motifs as well as supramolecular hydrogel materials using this modular synthetic strategy based on high-affinity host guest interactions.
3. Detailed study and mechanical characterization of the hydrogel materials to shed light on structure-property relationships between host-guest interactions and macroscopic mechanical properties.

Required qualifications:

• MSc (or equivalent) degree in Chemistry
• Good synthetic skills / knowledge in spectroscopic characterizations (NMR, UV-Vis, IR)
• Excellent communication, teamwork, and organizational skills

The following additional qualifications may be advantageous:

• Experience in Polymer Chemistry and/or Hydrogels
• Familiarity with supramolecular host-guest systems
• Background in mechanical characterization of polymers/hydrogels

We offer a full-time position for the duration of your doctoral studies with the earliest starting being the 1st of October 2022. You will work in an interdisciplinary team of researchers with in-depth experience in organic, polymer and hydrogel synthesis. Further, you will collaborate with research and project partners. Throughout the project there will be mentoring opportunities, such as to include student projects and/or degree theses into your work. You will actively participate in group and institute duties and activities. As an integral part of your work, you will publish your results in peer-reviewed journals and present them at (inter)national conferences.

You will work within a vibrant, inter-institutional, highly collaborative research environment with ample opportunities for training, exchange of expertise and networking.

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