Pending grant approval, Dr. Chandler will offer a second postdoctoral position in his lab starting in Spring / Summer 2006. Potential applicants must have excellent written and oral communication skills and must be interested in working with undergraduate researchers. Experience with equipment maintenance is highly desirable. Postdocs will be expected to independently conduct research and draft manuscripts for publication. Teaching will not be required, but a number of teaching opportunities may be available.
I expect to have a position available starting in the Spring or Summer of 2006. The project in my lab involves preparation and characterization of heterogeneous catalysts prepared from PAMAM dendrimer encapsulated nanoparticles. In particular, I am looking for someone to begin a detailed reaction kinetics study of gold based nanoparticles, which have extremely high activity for low temperature CO oxidation. Additionally, through the NSF CAREER program, I have funds to purchase a new commercial microcalorimeter, and would like a new postdoc to help get this system up and running. We also work with faculty at UT Austin (80 miles from San Antonio) and have access to some equipment there. Willingness to work with very good undergraduate researchers and command of written and spoken English are requirements, but position is not restricted to US citizens.
Although experience in catalysis is a plus, good students need not have extensive training in surface chemistry or heterogeneous. This position would be ideal for students who anticipate pursuing a career at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution like Trinity, and is accessible to well trained students with backgrounds in Physical, Inorganic, Materials, Analytical or Organic Chemistry, as well as Chemical Engineering. There will be opportunities for students to bring their own expertise to project and to develop related individual projects (e.g. synthesis, reaction mechanisms, surface chemistry, new applications of nanoparticles) that may provide the basis for future individual proposals. Beyond working in an environment with undergraduates, teaching is not required; however, there will likely be opportunities to gain classroom or laboratory teaching experience.
Interested students should contact me directly with the information above, or via email (bert.chandler@trinity.edu). Students can also check out our recent publications:
Lang, H; May, RA; Iversen, BL; Chandler, BD; J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2003, v125, p14832-14836.
Lang, H; Maldonado, S; Stevenson, K J.; Chandler, BD; J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2004, v126, p 12949-12956.
Singh, A; Chandler, BD; Langmuir, 2005, v21, p10776-10782.
Equipment available Dr. Chandler’s Lab
Nicolet Magna 470 FT-IR, with in-situ transmission cell and DRIFTS attachments (ATR also available in the department)
Quantachrome Autosorb 1-C Physisorption/Chemisorption Instrument
Two Flow reactor systems (currently operating CO oxidation and toluene hydrogenation); a third is currently being constructed
Ocean Optics UV-visible spectrometer
Several tube and muffle furnaces for catalyst pretreatment
Atmospheric batch reactor systems
Vacuum oven
Rotary evaporator
Two schlenk lines
AA spectrometer, Electrochemistry intstumentation, and other Departmental equipment
Through collaborations, we have access to TEM facilities in San Antonio, to equipment at Texas A&M University, and to instrumentation at U. Texas Austin.
Before formally applying, please contact Dr. Chandler to enquire about position details and availability. Applications will initially require a full CV and 2-3 letters of reference.