Project on confined liquids granted by the F.R.S.-FNRS

Countless technologies – in catalysis, separation processes, energy storage and conversion devices, etc. - involve liquids confined in nanometer-sized cavities. Because of the intermediate scales between the microscopic and macroscopic worlds, the physicochemical phenomena taking place in such confined environment are often poorly understood and the experimental methods available to analyze them in situ are scarce.

Starting in September 2022, the project will experimentally investigate thermal fluctuations of the free surface of water confined in unsaturated mesoporous solids, using inelastic neutron scattering.

Stochastic models will be developed to jointly analyze inelastic and elastic scattering (of neutrons and x-rays) to reconstruct the nanometer-scale structure of confined water, and its temporal fluctuations with nanosecond resolution.

More broadly, the project will also contribute to building a versatile neutron-scattering data-analysis methodology to address the general question of thermal fluctuations of phases confined in mesoporous solids.

If you are interested in joining the project as a PhD student, please get in touch with Cédric Gommes : Cedric.Gommes@uliege.be