P47 – Development of Bio-inspired Polymers for Sustainable Mineral Beneficiation

The Centre’s inclusive and equitable culture is supported by specific equity and diversity initiatives, which will support all members to achieve their career goals.

Handling suspensions of hydrophilic clays is one of the great challenges for reducing water usage in mineral beneficiation. These suspensions are difficult to dewater and reduce the opportunity for water reuse. The PhD candidate undertaking this project will develop novel polypeptides inspired by nature, tests their efficacy using a suite of state-of-the-art experimental techniques, and close the feedback loop to design the next-generation of flocculants.

The candidate will be based at the University of Newcastle and will focus on the deployment of the polypeptides. The interactions between polypeptides and clays will be investigated using particle settling tests, depletion adsorption isotherms, turbidity measurements, atomic force microscopy, zeta-potential, dynamic light scattering and scanning electron microscopy. The performance of the polypeptide-flocculate clay suspensions in processing applications will be assessed by rheological measurements, flotation tests and high-pressure dewatering.

For more information on our Centre please visit www.coeminerals.org.au

Eligibility Criteria

The applicant will need to meet the minimum eligibility criteria for admission.

Application Procedure

Interested applicants should send an email expressing their interest along with scanned copies of their academic transcripts, CV, a brief statement of their research interests and a proposal that specifically links them to the research project.

Please send the email expressing interest to Grant.Webber@newcastle.edu.au by 5pm on 31 December 2020.