PhD 2025 : Magnetic granular aerogels for soft robotics

Magnetic soft materials are capable of tether-free, instantaneous and “programmable” shape change in a magnetic field, which is promising for various biomedical and industrial applications, including minimally invasive medical procedures and targeted delivery [1].

Precise magnetic actuation requires the use of bottom-up fabrication techniques in which magnetic interactions are well-controlled on the level of the structural element.

The objective of this PhD project is the fabrication of magnetic, bio-based, porous particles with tailored magnetic and mechanical properties.

Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles will be embedded within bio-based aerogel beads (nanostructured, stable and porous materials) and different methods for the assembly of these beads into macroscopic structures will be investigated. Also the rheological properties and behaviour in magnetic field of the granular materials will be explored towards their use in soft robotics.

This explorative and interdisciplinary project is located at the interface of material chemistry and soft matter. The majority of the work will be performed at CEMEF - MINES Paris in Sophia Antipolis in the south of France. This lab has extensive experience in the preparation and physico-chemical characterization of bio-based aerogels [2]. The rheological characterization and magnetic behavior of the bio-aerogel bead assemblies will be investigated at the SIMM - ESPCI lab in Paris.

The PhD candidate will take benefit of the scientific environment and expertise of both MINES Paris and ESPCI, and will be the key actor in this fully funded collaborative project.

The PhD candidate will be encouraged to participate in dissemination of results at national and international conferences and in the form of scientific publications.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about this project.

• see more here : https://www.cemef.minesparis.psl.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/CEMEF-PhD-position-MAGMA.pdf

Keywords: Bio-based polymers, porous materials, physico-chemical properties, functional materials

References:

1. Kim, Y.; Zhao, X. Magnetic Soft Materials and Robots. Chemical Reviews 2022, 122, 53175364. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.1c00481.

2. Budtova, T.; Aguilera, D. A.; Beluns, S.; Berglund, L.; Chartier, C.; Espinosa, E.; Gaidukovs, S.; Klimek-Kopyra, A.; Kmita, A.; Lachowicz, D.; Liebner, F.; Platnieks, O.; Rodríguez, A.; Tinoco Navarro, L. K.; Zou, F.; Buwalda, S. J. Biorefinery Approach for Aerogels. Polymers 2020, 12, 2779. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12122779

CEMEF is a research lab. of MINES ParisTech I PSL University associated with CNRS, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (Unité Mixte de Recherche CNRS, UMR7635).

Overall, our missions are research and training in collaboration with industry.

Our research focuses specifically on materials and their transformation processes in the broadest sense. It extends additionally to other fields such as fluid mechanics, biomechanics or HPC for instance. On the other hand, our training programmes offer post-graduate courses related to our scientific fields of expertise. Furthermore, we are attentive to the scientific needs of industry and we set up research projects with industrial companies.

A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH LABORATORY

CEMEF studies the science of materials and forming processes. This twofold research theme is in fact at the origin of the creation of our research lab. Thus, from the outset, CEMEF has been interested in the analysis of manufacturing processes, i.e. it studies the entire chain consisting of the material / the process / the finished product .

Profile: Knowledge of materials science, ideally with experience in soft matter and rheology or mechanics; fluent in English; taste for initiative; MSc thesis (or equivalent) completed

Duration: 3 years, starting in autumn 2025

Locations: CEMEF (part of MINES Paris but located in Sophia Antipolis in the south of France) and SIMM (part of ESPCI Paris, France)

Funding: PSL University (METASOFT program)

PhD supervisor: Dr. Sijtze Buwalda (MINES Paris)

Co-supervisors: Dr. Artem Kovalenko (ESPCI) and Dr. Loren Jørgensen (ESPCI)

Contact:

• sijtze.buwalda@minesparis.psl.eu

Annual gross salary: about 26 k€/year.

PhD position starting in the autumn of 2025