Post-Doctoral position : development of innovative catalysts based on graphene quantum dots ans transition metals

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are nanometer-sized fragments of graphene that exhibit unique electronic, optical, and chemical properties due to their small size and high surface-to-volume ratio. Owing to their unique features, GQDs are holding great promise for various applications ranging from energy to environment and biology. GQDs could be synthesized either by conventional stepwise organic synthesis or, more rapidly, by either top-down or bottom-up one step approaches from various chemicals. In that context, we recently developed a valuable synthetic route allowing to prepare GQDs at the gram scale from non-food biomass wastes following a rapid and efficient process that has been recently patented.
This project will be devoted to the development of new sustainable catalysts synthesized by combining graphene quantum dots and first row transition metals through coordination. This project involves three main goals:
❖ Development of the optimized synthetic process allowing to prepare composites of GQDs and transition metals.
❖ Full characterization of the composites by IR, XRF, XPS, HR-TEM, SEM, DLS, EDS, UV-vis and photoluminescence.
❖ Evaluation of their catalytic properties.
This postodoctoral position funded by Université de Lorraine and CNRS provide an excellent framework for research in material science and sustainable organic chemistry.