Doctorant (H/F) - Revêtements innovants pour les électrolyseurs d'eau à haute température pour la production de H2 par dépôt en couche atomique et DLI-CVD, IPVF/CEA

27 May 2023
Job Information

Organisation/Company

CNRS

Department

INSTITUT PHOTOVOLTAIQUE D'ILE DE FRANCE

Research Field

Chemistry
Physics

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

France

Application Deadline

1 Jun 2023 - 23:59 (UTC)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Hours Per Week

35

Offer Starting Date

1 Oct 2023

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

This thesis is part of a national project named ATHERM_COAT which main long-term objective is to generically demonstrate the ability to accelerate the discovery of new high performance coatings for energy transition, minimizing critical and/or toxic elements using thermodynamics and artificial intelligence.
The application and methodological demonstration case chosen here is the development of high temperature oxidation resistant coatings for Solid Oxide Electolyser Cell (SOEC) for production hydrogen, by DLI-CVD (Direct Liquid Injection Chemical Vapor Deposition) and ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition) technologies. Indeed, as part of the development of "green" hydrogen production, SOEC is currently being developed in France at the CEA and in many other countries such as Japan, the USA, Sweden and Germany. This electrolyser offers superior performance than others thanks to its high temperature (700 - 800°C) operation, but suffers from material degradation and reduced long-term performance. To improve its performance, several types of coatings have been investigated over the last twenty years, the best ones being based on cobalt-rich spinels that can be doped with several elements (Mn, Cu, Ce, …). However, the exact nature of these coatings and its process of synthesis still need to be optimized according to several criteria (conductivity, oxidation resistance, thermal expansion coefficient, degree of criticity of the used elements, toxicity, energy cost of the coating procedure …). The aim of this project is, in that context, to develop innovative coatings, directly deposited on the metal interconnector by DLI-CVD and ALD.
The PhD project will integrate all the steps from the selection and testing of the precursors necessary for its synthesis, the elaboration of this coating by DLI-CVD and ALD technologies and finally the characterization of its performance in SOEC running conditions. The thermodynamic approach for the choice of precursors and the selection of the coating material will be integrated to accelerate the development of these coatings. It is a shared workload between the IPVF and the CEA, and will also benefit from the experimental platform developed by other partners in the ATHERM_COAT project. Thanks to its strong expertise on ALD, UMR-IPVF will cover several aspects of the coating deposition by ALD: molecular precursor selection, ALD deposition and characterization of thin films, growth mechanism study, in-situ instrumentation. Coating synthesis by DLI-CVD will be carried out on a DLI-CVD industrial pilot at CEA, as well as the performance tests for SOEC application. Synthesis of “optimized” coatings by combined ALD and DLI-CVD could be initiated.

The doctoral researcher will benefit from IPVF and CEA expertise and unique capabilities in coating development by ALD and DLI-CVD.
She/he will integrate two dynamic and talented teams driven by innovation and results. Using their unique capabilities, her/his main missions will consist in the development of efficient coatings for SOEC for H2 production by ALD and DLI-CVD. In particular, for ALD, the main steps will be:
- Identification of the most promising set of precursors and detailed study of their reactivity in ALD conditions,
- Development of ALD process for the preparation of inorganic thin films and growth mechanism study
- Characterization of the material typical properties relevant to the material target functionality, i.e. morphological (XRR, SEM), structural (GIXRD and Raman), composition (EDS, XPS)
- Study of the effect of annealing under different conditions (air, N2, H2/N2, H2/H2O, ... up to 900 °C)
When relevant, the same steps using DLI-CVD (Direct Liquid Injection-Chemical Vapor Deposition) will be performed.

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
Additional comments

PEPR DIADEM

Website for additional job details

https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/Doctorant/UMR9006-NATSCH-003/Default.aspx

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

INSTITUT PHOTOVOLTAIQUE D'ILE DE FRANCE

Country

France

City

PALAISEAU

Where to apply

Website

https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Candidat/Offre/UMR9006-NATSCH-003/Candidater.aspx

Contact

City

PALAISEAU

STATUS: EXPIRED