Doctoral theses

The recycling of plastics is a major issue in the energy transition. These materials are widely used in many fields: packaging, automotive, household appliances, construction, agriculture, thus generating a significant amount of waste. Today, recycling is mainly done through mechanical recycling processes.

Adipic acid is considered as the most important dicarboxylic acid of global market and it has been included among the 50 most used chemicals in the US. Its main application concerns the synthesis of polyamides-6,6, also called “Nylon”, which demand about 50% of the global production of adipic acid.

As part of the National Low Carbon Strategy, reflecting France's ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, the decarbonisation of industry must result in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 35% and 81% respectively by 2030 and 2050 compared with 2015. One of the solutions envisioned is the development of decarbonized hydrogen.

IFPEN aims to become a key player in the triple energy, ecological and digital transition by offering differentiating technological solutions in response to the societal and industrial challenges of energy and climate.

Fine particles are among the main contributor to poor air quality. They are particularly monitored as 97% of the European population living in urban areas was exposed in 2021 to particle concentrations above the WHO guideline of 5 µg/m3.

The decarbonization of electricity generation is leading to deep changes in the power system. One of these changes is the integration of a growing share of intermittent renewable energy production, making it more difficult to balance supply and demand in real time.

In the face of the climate emergency and for carbon neutrality by 2050, our energy transition is moving towards sustainable development that promotes a largely carbon-free energy mix and soil recarbonization solutions.

Zeolites are nanoporous materials with well-defined crystalline structures, considered key assets in the on-going transition from fossil to renewable fuels and chemicals.[1] In particular, zeolites are efficient catalysts for the transformation of bio-sourced alcohols.

Context: Plastic recycling and valorisation is one of the major stakes of European research. Indeed, only 30 % of plastic wastes are recycled nowadays in Europe because of a lack of technologies.

The increasing use of hydrogen (H₂) in industry and transport poses problems in terms of the safety of industrial installations. Indeed, H₂ is a volatile and flammable molecule which can cause destructive explosions.

The rapid growth in the use of electric vehicles has led to a strong demand for batteries. Lithium-Ion batteries are currently the dominant technology, as they offer good performance, in particular high energy density. Nevertheless, these batteries can be subject to thermal runaway, potentially leading to the destruction of the vehicle.

This project is part of an ERC funded Synergy, one of the laureates of an ERC synergy grant. The overall goal consists of developing a predictive flow model in an entire karst net- work. It will be necessary to simulate water flows possibly marked with tracer in networks that may be described with millions of nodes.