Inorganic Nanomaterials Chemist

About the Role

We are seeking a highly motivated PhD-level Inorganic Chemist to join our advanced materials research team. This role is ideal for a recent PhD graduate with hands-on experience in inorganic colloidal chemistry, particularly involving rare-earth elements, transition metals, or other functional inorganic materials. The successful candidate will work on the design, synthesis, surface engineering, and characterization of inorganic nanoparticles and nanostructured materials for next-generation optical, electronic, and functional applications.

This is a lab-forward role with significant opportunities for innovation, publications/patents, and contributions to new product development.

Key Responsibilities

Colloidal Synthesis:

• Develop and optimize synthetic routes for inorganic nanomaterials, including rare-earth–doped nanoparticles, metal oxide nanoparticles, and complex core–shell structures.
• Conduct controlled nucleation and growth reactions, ligand exchange, and surface functionalization.
• Scale syntheses from milligram to multi-gram quantities.

Surface Chemistry & Functionalization:

• Modify nanoparticle surfaces using ligands, polymers, silanes, phosphonates, or other surface treatments.
• Tailor surface chemistry for dispersibility, stability, optical properties, or downstream integration into films, composites, and devices.
• Study ligand binding modes and surface energetics.

Materials Characterization:

• Operate and interpret data from major characterization tools including:
• Electron microscopy (TEM, SEM, STEM)
• X-ray diffraction (XRD)
• Spectroscopic tools (UV-Vis-NIR, PL, FTIR, Raman, ICP-OES/MS)
• Thermal analysis (TGA/DSC)
• Surface characterization (Zeta potential, DLS, XPS)

• Maintain accurate experimental documentation, analyze and interpret complex multi-modal datasets.

Collaborative R&D:

• Work cross-functionally with physicists, materials scientists, device engineers, and computational chemists.
• Support scale-up efforts, pilot production runs, and process transfer where needed.
• Participate in ideation, IP filings, and proposal writing for grants and partnerships.

Qualifications

Required

• PhD in Inorganic Chemistry, Materials Chemistry, Nanochemistry, Chemical Engineering, or related field.
• Hands-on experience in inorganic colloidal synthesis, especially involving rare-earth elements, lanthanide systems, or metal-based nanomaterials.
• Experience with nanoparticle surface chemistry, including ligand selection, ligand exchange, and dispersion stabilization.
• Proficiency with key analytical tools (TEM/SEM, XRD, ICP, spectroscopy, etc.).
• Strong understanding of coordination chemistry, nucleation/growth kinetics, and defect chemistry in inorganic materials.
• Excellent communication, data analysis, and scientific writing skills.

Preferred

• Experience in:
  • Core–shell nanostructures
  • Upconversion or downconversion phosphors
  • Colloidal processing or thin-film deposition
  • Air-free/Schlenk techniques
  • Microfluidic synthesis or continuous flow reactors
• Prior publications or patents related to inorganic or nanomaterials chemistry.

What We Offer

• Opportunity to work on cutting-edge materials with impactful commercial and scientific applications.
• Strong innovation culture with support for publishing and patenting.
• Access to advanced instrumentation and multidisciplinary collaboration.
• Competitive compensation and benefits.
• Career-growth opportunities in R&D leadership, scale-up, or product development.