PhD (M/F) on metal-free organic batteries: design, organic synthesis and electrochemical characterizations

18 Apr 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

CNRS

Department

Institut des matériaux de Nantes Jean Rouxel

Research Field

Chemistry
Physics

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

France

Application Deadline

8 May 2024 - 23:59 (UTC)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Hours Per Week

35

Offer Starting Date

1 Oct 2024

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

Scientific background and environment: This PhD thesis will be carried out as part of a collaborative project under the PEPR Batteries program (France 2030), involving 4 PhD theses in 4 national laboratories, all working closely together. This thesis will be coupled with that of the CEA Grenoble.
The project will take place at IMN's ST2E team (IMN, https://www.cnrs-imn.fr ), one of France's leading materials research centers, with over 110 permanent staff and 90 contract researchers. The successful candidate will be recruited to the "Stockage et Transformation Électrochimique de l'Énergie, ST2E" research group, and will work in the "Organic Batteries" area. The employer will be the CNRS, and salary will be around €2,135 gross/month.

Design, synthesis and electrochemical characterization of low-potential organic insertion materials for the development of negative electrodes for anion-ion batteries

Description of the PhD research project:
Batteries currently on the market use exclusively inorganic electrode materials, often based on transition metals. Although the electrochemical performance of these compounds is relatively satisfactory, they have several important limitations. These materials are costly and have a significant environmental impact, as they depend on energy-intensive synthesis techniques using scarce mining precursors. Moreover, this technology relies on the use of lithium, one of the metals raising geostrategic issues.
This PhD research project, which will be carried out as part of a collaborative project to develop innovative anion-ion batteries (completely metal-free), will focus in particular on the negative electrode, in close cooperation with CEA Grenoble; another PhD position is simultaneously located there. Based on our previous studies [1,2], the aim will be to synthesize and characterize organic insertion compounds such as viologen derivatives capable of reversibly inserting anions below 2 V vs Li+/Li. Detailed characterizations will also be carried out to better understand their electrochemical mechanisms.
[1] A. Jouhara et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2019, 58, 15680 (DOI: 10.1002/anie.201908475)
[2] V. Cadiou et al., ChemSusChem, 2020, 13, 2345 (DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201903578)

Requirements

Research Field

Chemistry

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Research Field

Physics

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Languages

FRENCH

Level

Basic

Research Field

Chemistry

Years of Research Experience

None

Research Field

Physics

Years of Research Experience

None

Additional Information

Website for additional job details

https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/Doctorant/UMR6502-STEREN-003/Default.aspx

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Institut des matériaux de Nantes Jean Rouxel

Country

France

City

NANTES

Geofield

Where to apply

Website

https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Candidat/Offre/UMR6502-STEREN-003/Candidater.aspx

Contact

City

NANTES

Website

http://www.cnrs-imn.fr

STATUS: EXPIRED