4D forensic investigation for Sustainable Coatings by Rational Design

Sustainable Coatings by Rational Design (SusCoRD) is a multi-disciplinary research programme that aims, for the first time, to connect a detailed scientific understanding of the mechanisms of protective coatings failure with state-of-the-art-machine learning to deliver a framework for the optimisation of corrosion protective organic coatings and related nanocomposite materials. The programme is a 5-year collaboration between the Universities of Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool and our industrial partner AzkoNobel involving around 20 individual projects over 4 work packages.

This PhD project will be focussed on understanding the physics and chemistry how coatings form a barrier to the environment and how they actively prevent failure as they degrade. To understand this the PhD candidate will investigate failures and conduct their own experiments allowing them to watch in 3D over time (4D) these failure mechanisms take place in the lab. These findings will directly feed in to computer modelling and machine learning efforts to maximise our understanding. This work is intimately linked with the Industrial sponsor AkzoNobel whom you will interact with regularly to report your work and build relationships with the scientists in the company. This PhD project forms part of a team working mainly at Manchester with contributions from Liverpool and Sheffield.

Informal enquiries can be made to Dr. Timothy Burnett: [email protected]