Formation of radicals in oxidative water treatment

LASIRE is a public research laboratory of the University of Lille and CNRS located in the campus Cité Scientifique in Villeneuve d'Ascq in Lille metropolis. 

The project aims to study the formation of radical species in oxidative water treatment processes. Oxidative treatments are commonly used in water treatment, either for disinfection or micropollutant degradation. However, the oxidants are mostly consumed by the organic matter present in water and lead to the unintended generation of so-called disinfection by-products (DBPs) which pose health risks.
The project's objectives are to study the formation of radical species, determining the conditions of their formation as well as their structure and stability. The generation and lifetime of these radicals will be examined through radical trapping experiments and using rapid-scan EPR spectroscopy, enabling short-time-scale analyses (milliseconds). The study will initially be conducted on well-characterized natural organic matter extracts (IHSS), before being extended to real water resources. Formation of radical species will be probed by advanced pulsed EPR techniques. Different parameters, such as type of oxidant and dosage, amount of halogens, pH, dissolved oxygen will be modified to fully assess and understand the formation of radical species.
This project is more broadly included in a research project which objectives are the analysis of DBP formation in
water treatment plants, to characterize their precursors, anticipating climate change effects, and determining
the health impact on human intestinal cells.

A related PhD project may be available to start in fall 2026.

The candidate must be a chemist or chemical/environmental engineer student with knowledge on spectroscopy
and/or good skills in analytical chemistry.