Understanding the precipitation reactions that occur during the various stages of the spent nuclear fuel reprocessing process is a major scientific challenge for ensuring optimal control of this process.
In this context, the postdoctoral research project aims to study, at the microfluidic scale, the nucleation of species under different chemical conditions for two key systems:
-On the one hand, the formation of MoZr compounds, for which the aim of the study is to define the precipitation conditions and nucleation mechanism in order to limit their formation in the industrial system,
-On the other hand, the precipitation of plutonium oxalate, for which the objective is to evaluate the impact of hydrodynamics on the particles formed.

Since the microfluidic approach allows for better control of the conditions under which solutions are implemented, it will be essential to develop microfluidic tools suited to studying the precipitation of these species and then to plan their adaptation to a nuclear environment while coupling them with various characterization equipment for conducting parametric tests (SWAXS, DLS, etc.). This work on adaptation to a nuclear environment and system integration will be carried out with the assistance of specialists in this field.