Posting Title

Postdoctoral Researcher – Decarbonized Structural Building Materials

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Location

CO - Golden

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Position Type

Postdoc (Fixed Term)

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Hours Per Week

40

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Working at NREL

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Golden, Colorado is the nation's primary laboratory for research and development of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.

From day one at NREL, you’ll connect with coworkers driven by the same mission to save the planet. By joining an organization that values a supportive, inclusive, and flexible work environment, you’ll have the opportunity to engage through our ten employee resource groups, numerous employee-driven clubs, and learning and professional development classes.

NREL supports inclusive, diverse, and unbiased hiring practices that promote creativity and innovation. By collaborating with organizations that focus on diverse talent pools, reaching out to underrepresented demographics, and providing an inclusive application and interview process, our Talent Acquisition team aims to hear all voices equally. We strive to attract a highly diverse workforce and create a culture where every employee feels welcomed and respected and they can be their authentic selves.

Our planet needs us! Learn about NREL’s critical objectives, and see how NREL is focused on saving the planet.

Note: Research suggests that potential job seekers may self-select out of opportunities if they don't meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage anyone who is interested in this opportunity to apply. We seek dedicated people who believe they have the skills and ambition to succeed at NREL to apply for this role.

Job Description

NREL's Building Thermal Energy Sciences group has an opening for a postdoctoral  researcher to support and lead work relating to decarbonization of structural materials with a special focus on replacing cement in concrete.  The successful candidate will join team members on cutting-edge laboratory and analytical projects to synthesize, develop, characterize, and optimize sustainable materials for buildings and infrastructure.  The successful candidate should have a strong background and understanding of chemistry, physics, and fundamentals of bio-based materials to contribute to new research in a lignin-based sustainable building materials that are an effective alternative to concrete, based on polymer chemistry.

The successful candidate should have a strong background in either:

1. Polymer synthesis and characterization,

2. An understanding of heat and mass transfer, and/or

3. Familiarity with handling concrete.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Perform chemical modifications and characterization of lignin to form high-strength materials.
• Characterize the chemical and thermal properties of these materials using tools like nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).
• Characterize the mechanical and application-dependent properties using tools like dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), tensile testing, 3-point bending testing, freeze-thaw testing, accelerated UV/heat/moisture aging tests, and compression strength testing.
• Scale up synthesis and troubleshoot manufacturing issues.
• Assist in project management, including writing reports, journal articles, and presentations for program review or conferences.
• Assist in lifecycle analysis (LCA) and technoeconomic analysis (TEA)

Desired Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

The candidate will get the opportunity to be involved in detailed experimental research and linkin