Mitigating the catastrophic effects of climate change has urged the decarbonization of our energy economy. One promising approach is to leverage the most abundant greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, and convert it into products with societal value, thereby reducing the amount of CO2 emitted and enabling sustainable manufacturing. Electrochemical reduction of CO2 is an exciting route as it can enable low temperature conversions towards desired products; however, it remains to be realized at sufficiently high current densities and selectivities. One outstanding challenge is to design and fabricate advanced gas diffusion electrodes that can facilitate complex mass transport and kinetics over thousands of hours of stable operation.
In these projects, you will synthesize novel gas diffusion electrodes with controlled three-dimensional structures and surface properties. Instead of leveraging commercial, carbon fiber-based, gas diffusion layer based substrates, you will manufacture your own scaffolds using scalable methodologies that afford high control over the pore size, geometry, and porosity. Furthermore, you will apply polymer coatings to control the surface properties such as wettability and electrochemical activity. The prepared materials will be thoroughly characterized with a suite of methods including microscopic, spectroscopic, and electrochemical including flow cells reactors available in our laboratories. If successful, you will develop a new generation of gas diffusion electrodes with far-reaching applications in electrochemical systems and beyond.
When applying, please indicate your preferred position:
- Position 1: Focused on synthesis and control over the three-dimensional structure of the porous structure.
- Position 2: Focused on surface functionalization and precise control of wettability of electrode interfaces.
Note: interest in both positions is also possible.
Membrane Materials and Processes at Eindhoven University of TechnologyThe chair Membrane Materials and Processes (
www.tue.nl/mmp) at the department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry at Eindhoven University of Technology (
www.tue.nl) focuses on the design and development of polymer membranes and porous electrodes to control mass transport in sustainable processes. The chair combines and integrates materials chemistry, electrochemical engineering, and process technology. Application areas are water and energy, with a strong focus on the recovery and reuse of resources, the valorization of waste streams and energy efficiency. 'Closing cycles' and 'value from waste' are leading themes in the research program. Next to fundamental academic research, application-oriented research in close collaboration with the industry is stimulated.
Electrochemical porous materials and interfacesThe research on electrochemical porous materials and interfaces is led by Dr. Forner-Cuenca. We aspire to facilitate the deployment of transformative energy technologies in the real world. To do so, we employ fundamental principles at the convergence of materials science, electrochemical engineering, and surface science to synthesize, characterize, simulate, and implement novel materials into next-generation electrochemical devices (e.g. redox flow batteries, fuel cells, electrolyzers). We are especially interested in understanding complex transport through porous media, synthesizing functional polymer coatings, and developing advances operando techniques.
The TU/e offers academic education that is driven by fundamental and applied research. We combine scientific curiosity with a hands-on mentality. Our educational philosophy is based on personal attention and room for individual ambitions and talents. Our research meets the highest international standards of quality. We push the limits of science, which puts us at the forefront of rapidly emerging areas of research.