Covalent functionalization of metal oxide surface for gas sensors application (Master 2 internship: upto 6 months)

JOB ENVIRONMENT:

Institut Mines-Télécom is the leading public group of engineering and management Grandes Écoles in France. Consisting of eight public graduate Grandes Écoles and two subsidiary graduate schools, Institut Mines-Télécom leads and develops a rich ecosystem of partner schools, economic, academic and institutional partners, key players in education, research and economic development.

Mines Saint-Étienne, a graduate school of the Institut Mines-Télécom, is responsible for education, research, innovation, industrial transfer and scientific culture dissemination. With 2,500 students, 500 staff and a budget of €50m, it has 3 campuses dedicated to the industry of the future, health and well-being, and digital sovereignty and microelectronics. It is ranked in the top 15 graduate engineering schools in France and the top 500 universities worldwide.

The 2023-2027 strategy of Mines Saint-Etienne is in line with that of Institut Mines Telecom. It aims to:

• Support the ecological, digital and generational transitions and educate the people involved
• Support national and European sovereignty in microelectronics and digital technology

To support this strategy, it is recruiting a Master-2 intern.

Host team/institute: The proposed Master-2 internship will be carried at the Gas sensors group of the SURF team of the Laboratory George Friedel (LGF, CNRS UMR 5307). The research group is a part of the “Procédés de Transformations des Solides et Instrumentation (PTSI)” department of the SPIN research center at Ecole des Mines de Saint Etienne. The team has extensive experiences in developing MOx based gas sensors for environmental and healthcare applications.

JOB DESCRIPTION:

Presentation of internship assignments and activities: Gas sensors are important components in the electronic devices deployed for air quality monitoring and early diagnostic of diseases. The majority of these sensors are based on metal oxide (MOx) materials, such as tin oxide (SnO₂), which is a semiconductor, cheaper, easier to process into devices, durable and sensitive to different polluting gases and biomarkers for disease diagnostics ¹. However, the MOx sensors suffer from lack of selectivity, such that response to the targeted gas is often interfered by the interferants, which coexist with the targeted gas in the real environment. To address this challenge, this Master-2 internship will pursue the strategy of surface functionalization, initiated in our lab, to introduce specific functionalities on the sensor surface to improve its selectivity to redox gases (nitrogen dioxide, ammonia) and volatile organic compounds (ethanol, acetone, toluene). The functionalization method will be based on diazonium electroreduction ², in which under the influence of an electrochemical potential, an organic molecule is covalently grafted on the conducting surface (SnO₂ in this internship). The intern will carry out functionalization of different types of organic molecules, bearing electron acceptor and electron donor groups. An emphasis would be to study different parameters of the electrochemical functionalization and their correlation with the morphology and microstructures of the grafted organic film. Finally, the functionalized SnO₂ surface will be investigated for gas sensing applications. In this internship, the student will have exposure to state of art equipments in electrochemistry, such as potentiostat and impedance spectrometer, material characterizations, such as electron microscopies, atomic force microscopies and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and gas sensing measurement bench.

The internship is based on the Saint-Étienne campus

References

1. O. Kassem, M. Saadaoui, M. Rieu, J.-P. Viricelle. A novel approach of a fully inkjet printed SnO₂-based gas sensor on a flexible foil. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 2019, 7 (39), 12343-12353.
2. A. Kumar, R. Meunier-Prest, F. Herbst, O. Heintz, E. Lesniewska, M. Bouvet. Covalent grafting of aryls to modulate the electrical properties of phthalocyanine-based heterostructures: Application to ammonia sensing. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2022, 436, 135207

WHY JOIN US :

Institut Mines-Telecom is characterised by:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m39m6hdNC48

• A scientific environment of excellence
• A group with entities throughout France

Mines Saint-Etienne is distinguished by:

• A privileged working environment with a high student supervision rate and a high environment rate (support and back-up functions)
• First-rate experimental and digital resources
• Significant contract research activity (€11m/year in Research and Innovation contracts), mainly with industrial partners
• 25% international students, Member of the T.I.M.E. network and the EULIST European University
• A centre for scientific, technical and industrial culture - La Rotonde - which is unique in France, and which has a major impact on society (> 50,000 visitors per year)
• Pleasant workplace, easily accessible by public transport and close to motorways
• Public transport costs reimbursed up to 75% (subject to conditions)
• Staff committee that subsidises sports, leisure, cultural and social events and activities
• 1 day leave per month

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Position based in : Saint-Étienne
• Preferred start date: From February onward

Internships are open to all, with accommodations available on request for candidates with disabilities.

PROFIL SOUGHT:

• Master students of chemistry or material science
• Previous experience in electrochemistry and gas sensors will be appreciated
• Motivation to work in research team.