stillingsbetegnelse:
PhD scholarship in Improvement of Electrode Materials for High Temperature Electrolysis Cells

jobbeskrivelse:
The section for Mixed conductors, Department of Energy Conversion and Storage, Technical University of Denmark, is seeking a candidate for a PhD student position as part of the project “Synfuel: Sustainable synthetic fuels from biomass gasification and electrolysis”. Electrolysis of water will become a key technology in the future energy system to balance increasing amounts of renewable energy against the demand and to provide sustainable fuels to the transport sector. When renewable electricity production exceeds the demand, the surplus can be used for production of hydrogen via steam electrolysis for instance in a Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell (SOEC). This hydrogen can advantageously be added to “producer gas” obtained by thermal gasification of biomass to create a synthesis gas, which can be further catalytically upgraded to transport fuels like e.g. methanol. There are several synergies between the high temperature electrolysis process and the gasification process resulting in a high overall efficiency of the combined biomass-gasifier+SOEC – plant (e.g. surplus heat from the gasifier can be used to improve electrolysis efficiency and the oxygen also produced in the water splitting can be used in the gasifier). Both biomass gasification and electrolysis by SOEC can become key technologies in a future sustainable energy system. Current challenges are to bring the technologies up in scale and to improve them with respect to key performance characteristics; an important one for the case of SOEC being the power density and the cell lifetime. Here, the electrode materials used in the oxygen electrode is a key issue as the resulting electrode kinetics strongly affect the overall lifetime of the cell and the power density at which it can operate. Project aims The project aim is on the technological level to improve the oxygen electrode of SOECs and on the more fundamental level to elucidate which processes that limit the electrode performance of state of the art electrodes. Recently, excellent electrode performance has been reported on multi-phase, nano-particulate cobaltite based electrodes. The project aims to establish which role the phase boundaries in these composites play for the electrode reaction. This will be studied on highly tailored thin film model electrode systems prepared, e.g. PLD or spin coating as well as on more technological electrodes prepared by infiltration/impregnation routes. Job description You will be part of the section for Mixed Conductors at DTU Energy, but will also interact with other sections of the Department and with external partners of the project. In particular, a close cooperation with MIT in US is planned. The PhD position has a multidisciplinary nature and thus you will need to draw on the knowledge of several experts to reach the project aims. You will be engaged in preparation of thin film electrodes e.g. by PLD, but will also develop routes to make nano-particulate multi-phase electrodes by impregnation. In addition to these synthesis activities, the project involves a significant effort on characterising the prepared electrodes both with respect to micro/nano-structure as well as with respect to electrochemical performance. Qualifications Candidates should have a master's degree in engineering or a similar degree within Physics, Chemistry or Materials Science on an academic level equivalent to the master's degree in engineering. An absolute demand is very good communication skills in English, both written and spoken. Ability to work independently, to plan and carry out complex tasks, to perform complicated experiments, and to do theory based data analysis, are further necessary. Approval and Enrolment The scholarships for the PhD degree are subject to academic approval, and the candidates will be enrolled in one of the general degree programmes of DTU. For information about the general requirements for enrolment and the general planning of the scholarship studies, please see t

Arbejdsgiver Navn: Danmarks Tekniske Universitet

Arbejdsgiver telefonnummer: 45252525

Arbejdsgiver faxnummer: 45881799

Job kort beskrivelse:
Undervisning og forskning på universiteter og højere læreranstalter

land: Danmark

region: Hovedstaden

krævede uddannelse: Ikke angivet

Kilde til jobtilbud: AMS, Offentlige arbejdsformidlinger, Danmark