Background
MNEXT collaborates with SMEs, students, and researchers on practice-oriented research into sustainable materials such as biobased plastics, contributing to the materials and energy transition. During this internship, you will work within the research group Biobased Building Blocks & Products (BBB&P), which focuses on the synthesis, processing, and application of biobased polymers and building blocks.
As part of the BioColEol project, you will continue the development of sustainable dyes based on compounds such as curcumin—a natural yellow dye extracted from turmeric root. While curcumin is already widely used in the food industry, its limited UV stability restricts its use in other sectors, such as the plastics industry. The BioColEol project, building on the earlier CurCol project, has already achieved significant progress in modifying the chemical structure of curcumin, resulting in improved UV and chemical stability. Your focus will be on further optimizing the synthesis of these enhanced yellow and red dyes to increase their chemical, thermal, and photostability. At the same time, you will explore the potential of developing new colors from various biomass sources.
In addition to synthesis work, you will be involved in characterizing the produced dyes using analytical techniques such as HPLC, LC-MS, NMR, FT-IR, UV-Vis, TGA, and DSC. Incorporating the dyes into polymers and investigating properties such as lightfastness and color measurements according to the CIELAB system may also be part of your work.
Desired skills
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Fourth-year bachelor’s or master’s student in chemistry or a related field, with experience in organic synthesis.
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Experience with HPLC, NMR, IR, MS, and UV-Vis.
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Strong command of the English language.
What we offer
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Two valuable internship positions at the new Joint Research Centre Breda, equipped with state-of-the-art equipment in an innovative environment.
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An internship allowance of €350/month.