Research Associate in Characterisation and Modelling of Organic Mixed Ionic Electronic Conductors

Location: South Kensington Campus 

Job Summary

Applications are invited for a Research Associate to join our research team in the Matter community in the Department of Physics. The research is concerned with understanding the structure-property-performance relationships of organic mixed ionic / electronic conductor materials, with the aim of using these materials as the electrodes in electrochemical energy storage devices. The post is based in Physics with Professor Jenny Nelson’s group and is part of the EPSRC funded programme grant “VALUED”. The Research Associate will be responsible for designing and carrying out experimental measurements of the materials, testing electrode and device performance, modelling the material and device behaviour, writing up results for publication and helping with the organisation of research. 

Duties and responsibilities 

The successful candidate will carry out experimental and computational research to investigate the processes of charge (ionic and electronic) transport, charging / discharging, and stability in organic electrochemical electrodes. Duties will include: fabricating samples and electrochemical devices using mixed conducting conjugated polymers; characterising their properties using voltammetry, spectroelectrochemistry, gravimetry, time- and frequency-resolved electrical measurements and structural probes; designing, building, maintaining and using experimental measurement systems to study such properties; and developing and using computational models to explain observed phenomena in terms of material properties and device design. 

Main Duties: 

The post holder will be self-motivated and will be expected to plan and carry out research, to write and submit publications to refereed journals, to liaise with collaborators within the VALUED community and within and outside Imperial College, to assist in the maintenance and development of experimental set-ups and computer codes, to support research (Masters and PhD) students, train users and assist with the administration of the research group. This project will involve a high degree of teamwork and interdisciplinary research. 

Essential requirements

You will have a PhD (or equivalent) in Physical Science or a closely related discipline. 

• Experience of research into organic mixed ionic/ electronic conducting materials
• Knowledge of optical, electronic, and electrochemical processes in mixed conducting conjugated polymers and of underlying concepts
• Knowledge of the device physics of mixed conductor devices, along with experience of using or developing computational models of performance
• Experience of designing and building experimental setups to characterise mixed conducting materials
• Experience of writing codes to control instruments and collect data
• Experience of gravimetric measurements using quartz crystal microbalance
• Extensive experience of electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical measurements
• Experience of in-situ measurement of structural or chemical changes during electrochemical cycling
• Demonstrated ability to complete projects and write up research results
• Demonstrated experience of collaboration with synthetic chemists n materials design and diagnosis

In addition, experience in the following areas is desirable:

• Experience of training other researchers in experimental and/or computational methods
• Experience of quantum chemistry calculations
• Experience of spectroscopic measurements and of interpreting spectroscopic data in terms of material properties

Further Information

More information about the Department of Physics, the Matter Community and the staff benefits that we offer can be found on our webpages.

This post is available for up to 12 months, commencing from 1st May 2024. Closing date 2nd April 2024. Interviews will be held on the week commencing on 15th April to 19th April 2024.