General information
Organisation
The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) is a key player in research, development and innovation in four main areas :
• defence and security,
• nuclear energy (fission and fusion),
• technological research for industry,
• fundamental research in the physical sciences and life sciences.
Drawing on its widely acknowledged expertise, and thanks to its 16000 technicians, engineers, researchers and staff, the CEA actively participates in collaborative projects with a large number of academic and industrial partners.
The CEA is established in ten centers spread throughout France
Reference
SL-DRT-26-0840
Direction
DRF
Thesis topic details
Category
Condensed Matter Physics, chemistry, nanosciences
Thesis topics
Immobilization of molecular catalysts for CO2 conversion
Contract
Thèse
Job description
Carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, is also an abundant carbon resource that can be converted into value-added chemicals. Although CO2 reduction using hydrogen is a conventional approach, it remains energy-intensive due to the high dissociation energy of the H–H bond. An alternative strategy relies on the use of inorganic hydrides, such as hydrosilanes and hydroboranes, whose Si–H and B–H bonds are more readily activated. These compounds enable CO2 reduction under milder conditions through a homogeneous catalytic hydrosilylation step. To establish a sustainable cycle, the hydrides are regenerated electrochemically from silyl chlorides. With the aim of large-scale implementation and continuous operation, this PhD project focuses on the immobilization of molecular catalysts onto conductive surfaces. The objective is to functionalize these catalysts with anchoring groups in order to optimize their activity and increase the density of active sites. Various chemical and electrochemical strategies will be investigated. The modified catalysts will be grafted onto conductive supports and characterized using physicochemical and electrochemical techniques. Finally, the performance of the immobilized systems will be evaluated in terms of activity, selectivity, and stability, and compared with that of their homogeneous counterparts to identify the most efficient architectures for CO2 valorization.
University / doctoral school
Thesis topic location
Site
Saclay
Requester
Position start date
01/10/2026
Person to be contacted by the applicant
FRANCOIS Mélanie
melanie.francois@cea.fr
CEA
DRF/IRAMIS/NIMBE/LICSEN
CEA Saclay – Bâtiment 125 – P232
91191 Gif-Sur-Yvette Cedex - France
0169089083
Tutor / Responsible thesis director
JOUSSELME Bruno
bruno.jousselme@cea.fr
CEA
DRF/IRAMIS/NIMBE/LICSEN
IRAMIS/NIMBE/LICSEN
Bât.466, p.14.
91191 Gif sur Yvette
0169 08 91 91
En savoir plus
https://iramis.cea.fr/nimbe/licsen/