Postdoc (M/F) – characterization of nanostructured membranes for reverse electrodialysis

CNRS - National Center for Scientific Research; France; On-site; EUR 42,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

CNRS - Systèmes moléculaires et nano matériaux pour l'énergie et la santé seeks a PhD-level researcher to design and characterize electrolyte membranes for blue energy conversion. You will develop and apply SAXS/SANS and SANS-based methods to study nanoconfinement and polyelectrolyte conformation, collaborating with partner labs.

Strong experimental expertise, experience with spectroscopy, microscopy, and electrochemistry is valued. Excellent English communication is essential; French is a plus.

Qualifications

• PhD required in Materials Science, Physics or Chemistry.
• Hands-on SAXS/SANS experience with programming in Python.
• Strong experimental skills; knowledge in spectroscopy, microscopy, electrochemistry is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design electrolyte membranes for blue energy conversion.
• Develop structural characterization methods for membranes produced by project partners.
• Characterize nanoconfinement by SAXS/SANS and grafted polyelectrolyte conformation by SANS.

Skills

SAXS/SANS techniques

Python programming

experimental skills

English communication

Education

PhD in Materials Science, Physics or Chemistry

Tools

AFM

SEM

TEM

SAXS/WAXS

Job description

Organisation/Company CNRS Department Systèmes moléculaires et nano matériaux pour l'énergie et la santé Research Field Chemistry Physics » Chemical physics Physics » Biophysics Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Application Deadline 12 Nov 2026 - 23:59 (UTC) Country France Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 35 Offer Starting Date 1 Feb 2027 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

Designing electrolyte membrane for blue energy conversion. The CellOsmo ANR project aims at developing a new generation of membranes to harvest osmotic energy from salinity gradients existing between fresh and salty waters (ocean, brine, and wastewater). Such energy is renewable, non-intermittent and the global reachable power is estimated to 1 TW (in comparison the 2020 hydroelectricity power only reached 0.02 TW).1 Such energy can be converted into electricity by reverse electrodialysis (RED) which relies on stacks of cation and anion exchange membranes to transport ions from salty to fresh water. The power generated by RED depends on the cell design, the salt gradient and the membrane properties.

The candidate will develop structural characterization methodologies of selected membranes synthesized by the partners of the ANR project including the evaluation of the nanoconfinement lengthscale by SAXS/SANS, of the grafted polyelectrolyte conformation by SANS, and of the swollen nanochannel morphology by electron and atomic force microscopy (SEM, TEM, AFM).
The CellOsmo project will provide key insights related to two main scientific questions:

• How to play with the copolymer macromolecular architecture, grafting onto conditions, formulation and process to tune the ion concentration and distribution, and the nanochannel size within a nanocellulose single ion electrolyte membrane?
• How ionic transport properties can be modulated through the electrolyte membrane architecture, and subsequently impact blue energy conversion efficiency?

The candidate will benefit from both CEA/IRIG/SyMMES and Cermav laboratories where he will have access to nanocharacterization platforms (in particular SAXS/WAXS at SyMMES) and AFM, SEM and TEM at CERMAV). This project will involve experiements inlarge scale facilities (ILL, ESRF). CELLOSMO is an PRCE ANR project involving IMP (Lyon, synthesis), Cermav (Grenoble, membrane functionalization, AFM, SEM), SyMMES (Grenoble, morphology characterization) and the Sweetch company (Rennes, membrane performances).

PhD in Material Science, Physics or Chemistry.
Proven hands-on experience with SAXS/SANS techniques associated with programming skills (Pyhton)
Strong experimental skills would be a plus: spectroscopy, microscopy, electrochemistry
Knowledge on polymers, nanostructured materials would be a strong asset
Ability to work effectively in a multi-partner environment
Excellent communication skills in English (written and oral), French would be a plus.