In this PhD or Postdoc position you will use your knowledge in nanomaterials to research and identify the material properties required to enable full charging of energy-dense lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) within one minute. In its current state, energy-dense LIBs cannot be charged rapidly due to lithium ion diffusion limitations which cause unequal electronic and ionic transport rates.

For your research, you will use the information that we have gathered in the last years. Starting off, we hypothesize that lithium ion diffusion limitations can be overcome in LIBs with interpenetrating electrodes. For this, you will synthesize colloidal electrode particles based on particle stabilized mini-emulsions . You will characterize the electrode particles via dynamic light scattering and electron microscopy. The synthesised colloidal electrode particles will self-assemble into a bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gel (bijel) . Using the resulting bijel, you will render the structure electronically conductive by post-processing. You will electrochemically characterize this bijel half-cell electrode via cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. With the results from your research you will form the basis for completing the assembly of a full-cell LIB with interpenetrating electrodes.

References:

Haase, Martin F., et al. "Development of nanoparticle stabilized polymer nanocontainers with high content of the encapsulated active agent and their application in water‐borne anticorrosive coatings." Advanced Materials 24.18 (2012): 2429-2435.

Haase, Martin F., Kathleen J. Stebe, and Daeyeon Lee. "Continuous fabrication of hierarchical and asymmetric bijel microparticles, fibers, and membranes by solvent transfer‐induced phase separation (STRIPS)." Advanced Materials 27.44 (2015): 7065-7071.

Khan, M. A., Sprockel, A. J., Macmillan, K. A., Alting, M. T., Kharal, S. P., Boakye‐Ansah, S., & Haase, M. F. (2022). Nanostructured, Fluid‐Bicontinuous Gels for Continuous‐Flow Liquid–Liquid Extraction. Advanced Materials, 34(18), 2109547.

As PhD or Postdoc candidate you will need a MSc or PhD degree in physics, chemical engineering, chemistry, or material science. Next to this you enjoy deepening your knowledge with colloids and enthusiastically and proactively take steps in your research. Additionally, you will bring the following:

• experience in working with colloids;
• knowledge of physical chemistry and transport phenomena;
• hands-on laboratory experience in nanomaterial synthesis and characterization.

For the PhD and postdoc position, also applications from candidates without these qualifications will be considered.

In addition to the research tasks, the position includes teaching assistance in physical chemistry and transport phenomena.

• a full time PhD position for 4 years or a full time Postdoc position for 2 years;
• participation in the education programme of the Graduate School of Natural Sciences;
• access to a network of collaborative researchers within the Debye Institute;
• a full-time gross salary ranging from €2,541 to €3,247 in scale P for the PhD position and €2,960 to €4,670 in scale 10 for the Postdoc position;
• 8% holiday bonus and 8.3% end-of-year bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave, and flexible employment conditions based on the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities.

In addition, Utrecht University offers excellent secondary conditions, including an attractive retirement scheme, professional development, (partly paid) parental leave, sports and flexible employment conditions (multiple choice model). For more information, please visit working at Utrecht University.

For more information about the faculty, please visit working at the Faculty of Science. 

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Utrecht University’s Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science brings together six research groups from the departments of Chemistry and Physics. The central research theme is 'Nanomaterials for Sustainability', supported by three strong, interconnected research pillars: catalysis, colloids and nanophotonics.