phd thesis position in Belgium
Title: Development of coated metal bipolar plates for fuel cells
In the framework of the joint project TiNTHyN involving universities and research centers in Wallonia, the University of Liège, the CRM Group and the University of Namur recruit a PhD candidate to develop new metallic materials for low temperature fuel cell applications. The research
will deal with the development of coatings, using both dry and wet coating procedures, on aluminum plates, and the evaluation of the materials performance for low-temperature fuel cells.
Place: The researcher will be hired by ULiège (Belgium). The work will mainly take place in Liège, both at the University (Department of Chemical Engineering – Nanomaterials, Catalysis, Electrochemistry laboratory) and at the CRM Group, with frequent visits to the LARN laboratory in UNamur.
Profiles: Master in Sciences (Chemistry or physics) or Master in Engineering (preferably specialized in Chemistry and Materials Sciences).
Language: a good level of English is requested
Duration: 4 years
Start period: summer 2024
Application deadline: 30 April 2024
Further details and application
2 phd thesis positions in Belgium
Title: Development of long-life catalysts for PEM fuel cells
Within the framework of a project funded by the National Funds for Scientific Research (FNRS), the University of Liège and the UCLouvain University recruit two PhD candidates to develop electrocatalysts for low temperature fuel cell applications. The research will deal with (i) the synthesis of corrosion-resistant supports and (ii) the use of protective barriers to avoid the coarsening/leaching of metallic nanoparticles upon use in fuel cell, while keeping excellent catalytic activity.
Place: One researcher will be hired by ULiège, and the second one will be hired by UCLouvain. The work will take place at the Department of Chemical Engineering – NCE (Nanomaterials, Catalysis, Electrochemistry) laboratory of ULiège, and at the MOST (Molecular Chemistry, Materials and Catalysis) laboratory in UCLouvain. Both researchers are expected to meet frequently either in ULiège or UCLouvain.
Profiles: Master in Sciences (Chemistry or physics) or Master in Engineering (preferably specialized in Chemistry and Materials Sciences).
Language: a good level of English is requested
Duration: 4 years
Start period: summer 2024
Application deadline: 31 May 2024
Further details and application
phd thesis position in Belgium
Title: Development of long-life bimetallic catalysts for fuel cells
In the framework of the joint project TiNTHyN involving universities and research centers in Wallonia, the University of Liège and UCLouvain University recruit a PhD candidate to develop electrocatalysts for low temperature fuel cell applications. The research will involve the synthesis
of bimetallic hollow nanostructures supported on optimized carbon supports, in order to obtain efficient catalysts with high resistance to degradation upon use.
Place: The PhD candidate will be hired by ULiège (Belgium), but the program will be performed jointly between ULiège and UCLouvain. The work will mainly take place in ULiège, at the University (Department of Chemical Engineering – Nanomaterials, Catalysis, Electrochemistry laboratory), with frequent visits to the MOST (Molecular Chemistry, Materials and Catalysis) laboratory at UCLouvain.
Profiles: Master in Sciences (Chemistry or physics) or Master in Engineering (preferably specialized in Chemistry and Materials Sciences).
Language: a good level of English is requested
Duration: 4 years
Start period: summer 2024
Application deadline: 31 May 2024
Further details and application
A 3 years Post doctoral position at Wisconsin University (USA, 1.5 years) and CEA (France, 1.5 years): corrosion in molten salts for Energy processes
Contact: Laure Martinelli (Contact) Adrien Couet (Contact)
The accelerated development of materials is a major challenge for all industries, and corrosion resistance is particularly important for resources saving. The project aims to estimate the resistance to irradiation (heavy ions) and corrosion of FeNiMoCr alloys in a chloride salt, for use in molten-salt nuclear reactors.
The University of Wisconsin has widely demonstrated its expertise in the accelerated development of materials [1] for fluoride and chloride molten salt reactors [2-3]. In this project, dozens of samples of model quaternary FeNiMoCr alloys will be synthesised by additive manufacturing at the University of Wisconsin, varying the composition so as to map the entire compositional tetrahedron as closely as possible. These samples will then be irradiated with Ni ions at the University of Wisconsin and corroded (before and after irradiation) at the University of Wisconsin and at CEA Saclay (near Paris) to determine the effect of irradiation on the corrosion of these materials. The corrosion tests at CEA and the University of Wisconsin will cover the entire composition spectrum of FeNiMoCr alloys, as well as a NiCr grade corroded in a wide range of salt chemistry. The aim of these cross-experiments is, on the one hand, to obtain in a very short time (3 years) a large corrosion and irradiation database on FeNiMoCr alloys and, on the other hand, to screen the effect of a wide range of salt compositions on a model NiCr alloy. To achieve this, a single post-doctoral fellow would start with 1.5 years of corrosion and irradiation work at the University of Wisconsin and then spend 1.5 years at the CEA.
References :
[1] A. Couet, Integrated high-throughput research in extreme environments targeted toward nuclear structural materials discovery, Journal of Nuclear Materials, 559, 2022, 153425
[2] M. Moorehead, P. Nelaturu, M. Elbakhshwan, C. Parkin, C. Zhang, K. Sridharan, D.J. Thoma, A. Couet, High-throughput ion irradiation of additively manufactured compositionally complex alloys, Journal of Nuclear Materials, 547, 2021, 152782
[3] Y. Wang, K. Sridharan, A. Couet, Method for identification of redox control parameters for corrosion mitigation in molten fluoride salts, Journal of Nuclear Materials, 543, 2021, 152624