Illuminated by a light wave, gold nanoparticles (NPs) generates localized surface plasmons inducing strong local field exaltation, electron/hole pairs and heat. Thanks to these 3 phenomena, NPs lead to numerous applications (biology, catalysis, optics, etc.). It is also possible to attach polymers around these NPs by photopolymerization, [1] thus creating hybrid NPs. Recently, the heat induced by gold NPs, known as thermoplasmonics, enabled us to generate millimetric polymer plots via laser illumination of an assembly of gold NPs. [2]
The candidate will participate in the development of hybrid nanoparticles by thermoplasmonics in the PHOTON team of the Institut de Science des Matériaux de Mulhouse (IS2M). The post-doctorate is funded by the Maison de la Chimie for a period of one year, enabling the recruitment of a young researcher (less than 2 years' post-doctoral experience).
This project has two aspects, at the interface between physics and chemistry. The 1st aspect concerns the development and characterization of new samples for thermoplasmonics, enabling the desired temperature to be reached easily via laser illumination, while remaining unaltered as the temperature rises. This can be achieved using a variety of techniques: fine control of the morphology of samples obtained by gold evaporation, nanosphere lithography (NSL) or self-assembly of colloidal NPs...
The 2nd aspect concerns the development of chemical temperature probes for use on our samples, enabling us to address a wide range of temperatures via different chemical processes.
[1] Kameche et al. 10.1016/j.mattod.2020.03.023 ; Khitous et al. 10.1021/acsanm.1c01377
[2] Molinaro et al. 10.1021/acsapm.4c00525

Development of new samples for thermoplasmonics
Development of chemical temperature probes
Sample characterization (AFM, SEM, TEM, etc.)
Laser characterization of samples / chemical temperature probes
Communication of research results (conferences, publications, …)

The candidate will be assigned to the Institut de Science des Matériaux de Mulhouse, a joint CNRS-University of Haute-Alsace research unit (UMR 7361) with a staff of around 200. Work will be carried out in the PHOTON team. The recruited candidate will benefit from a high-level scientific environment and will have access to the team's own equipment (various laser illumination benches, AFM, FTIR, etc.) as well as various characterization platforms (electron microscopy, AFM, IR-Raman, etc.).

The position is located in a sector under the protection of scientific and technical potential (PPST), and therefore requires, in accordance with the regulations, that your arrival is authorized by the competent authority of the MESR.