Postdoc: molecular chiral separation using strong shear flows Full-time NEW

Despite the great advances in stereoselective synthesis and chromatographic separation methods during the last decades of the 20th century, chiral resolution is still a major challenge in pharmaceutical, food, pesticide and fragrance industries, and a very costly step in the production process. The possibility to achieve chiral separation through alternatives methods is therefore appealing and has found renewed interest in the past decade. One idea is that fluid flows could induce chiral migration, as initially proposed by Howard. Achieving separation of enantiomers without the use of a chiral stationary phase, but just by flow is not fully understood, but if successful would be of great benefit to the pharmaceutical industry. Over the past few years, we have studied increasingly smaller chiral structures. Now in the sixth generation Couette cell, the shear rate (a measure for the strength of the flow) has gone up from ~1.5 s–1, to 5000 s–1, and currently to ~105 s–1. This has allowed the chiral separation of structures of hundreds of nanometer in length. However, the separation of small organic molecules—representing the bulk economic value of the separation market—has remained elusive. Your job is to shed light on the physical processes involved (you need a background in fluid dynamics, applied physics, or chemical engineering), and perform relevant experiments to push mechanical separation into the single-molecule domain. Knowledge on aggregation/crystallization behavior is beneficial. Being able to implement numerical simulations (see e.g. https://doi-org/10.1038/ncomms6640) is a bonus. You are proficient in English, can work independently, and supervise PhD and master students. If you are interested in launching a start-up company on the topic, we have opportunities as well (see our other startup www.qfluidics.com). Last possible starting date May 2021.