The French government has set-up the priority research program and equipment (PEPR) in order to meet ecological, economic and technological challenges linked to energy transition. The PEPR entitled “Recycling, recyclability and reuse of materials” started in May 2023, is focused in five major families of materials: plastics, composites, textiles, strategic metals and paper/cardboards. Strategic metals are key components for new technologies. The CYCLAMET project is devoted the recycling of precious metals found in WEEE (wastes of electric and electronic equipment). This project is a part of this PEPR, and involve CEA-LITEN-LVME, CEA-IRIG-SyMMES laboratory and partners from Université de Lorraine (IJL, LRGP).Precious metals used in printed circuit boards (PCB) can be recovered through electrochemical processes (electroleaching/electrodeposition) in ionic liquids. An EE (electroleaching/electrodeposition) process has been set-up by IJL and LRGP (Université de Lorraine) for treatment of Zn-containing wastes in aqueous media. Then, IJL and CEA demonstrated the recovery of Pt metal from end of life fuel cells in ionic liquid media. Thanks to their wide electrochemical window and chemical stability, ionic liquids are media of interest for electrochemical processes. Main drawbacks of ionic liquids are related to their high cost and toxicity. An alternative to ionic liquids is the use of deep eutectic solvents (DES). Those solvents are similar to ionic liquids in terms of stability and safety, but are significantly cheaper. In that context, the use of deep eutectic solvents as a medium for precious metals recovery will be demonstrated by academic partners of IJL and LRGP, with a focus on Pd and Au metals from PCB cards. Our partners from IJL and LRGP (through another post-doctoral fellow) will study the selectivity of the process, regarding Pd and Au. Once the proof of concept has been established, the process will be scale-up to a micropilot-scale demonstrator.

As the development of a recycling process must be low carbon emitter, the use of deep eutectic solvent as a recycling medium needs to be think in a closed loop.

Job description 
In a closed loop vision, the liquid medium used in EE process must be sustainable. The degradation of the DES upon electrochemical cycles must be quantified. According to the parameters of the EE process developed in the same time by our partners of IJL and LRGP, the candidate will have to develop an aging device to simulate the degradation of the reference medium, then degradations products will be determined through basic chemical analyses (GCMS, NMR, FTIR, etc).
Once the nature of degradation products will be confirmed, the candidate will have to determine a suitable way for the regeneration of the medium. The regenerated deep eutectic solvent will be reemployed in electroleaching/electrodeposition solvents for validation.
Finally, the recycling process global impact will be apprehended by a simplified LCA app

With an engineering degree/university diploma and a doctorate in chemistry or processes, the applicant have developed academic knowledge and expertise in research and development of chemical processes.

The applicant ability to work as part of a team and to communicate, as well as his/her adaptability, will enable him/her to integrate quickly and conclude him/her projects. Scientific valorization of the results will take form of publications in journals with international reading committee and participation to scientific conferences.

If you're looking for your first professional experience after completing your PhD, this is the job for you.

Required knowledge and skills :

§  Electrochemistry

§  Good laboratory practices (organic solvents, acid/bases)

§  Analytical methodologies (ICP, GCMS, NMR)

§  Experimental set-up building affinity

Please join a CV, a cover letter and recommendation letters.