Thèse Apero Bis H/F - Université de Lille

Établissement : Université de Lille
École doctorale : Sciences de la Matière du Rayonnement et de l'Environnement
Laboratoire de recherche : UCCS - Unité de Catalyse et Chimie du Solide
Direction de la thèse : Mickaël CAPRON
Début de la thèse : 2026-10-01
Date limite de candidature : 2026-04-30T23:59:59

This PhD is partially included in the ANR APERO project (Advanced catalysts Properties Enhancement and Reaction condition Optimizations for cellulose valorization). The main objective of this project is the oxidation of cellulose to produce cellouronic acid using heterogeneous catalysis. The products formed could find applications in detergents or packaging for food or health industries for instance [J Polym Environ 13(3) (2005) 261].
Two main challenges will have to be tackled: i) to increase the reactivity of cellulose by appropriate pre-treatment, ii) to selectively oxidize the C6 carbon of each glucose unit of cellulose. Two PhDs will be involved in this project.

The focus of this PhD will be mainly on the second part of the project and will consist in using heterogeneous catalysts developed by the first PhD student in the oxidation of cellulose to determine the best catalysts formulations, along with the optimal reaction conditions. Heterogeneous catalysis will be coupled with mecanochemistry to enhance the reactivity of the cellulose. This Phd will be shared between IC2MP in Poitiers (especially working on mecanochemistry) and UCCS in Lille (working on oligosaccharide oxidation).

Ce travail sera réalisé au sein d'un consortium formé de 4 laboratoires de renommé internationale financé par l'ANR

The PhD student will be responsible for:
Synthesis and characterization (XRD, physisorption, TPD, TEM, solid NMR, ...) of the catalysts
Monitoring of catalytic reactions conducted in autoclaves using GC/MS and/or on the REALCAT platform
Data treatment, bibliographic work, reports and presentation of results in team meetings