PhD research position: Chemistry of triboelectric materials / fluorinated polymers

Updated: over 1 year ago
Location: Germany,
Job Type: PartTime
Deadline: 28 Oct 2022

The Cluster of Excellence livMatS develops completely novel, bioinspired materials systems that adapt autonomously to various environments and harvest clean energy from their surroundings. The intention of these purely technical – yet in a behavioral sense quasi-living – materials systems is to meet the demands of humans with regard to pioneering environmental and energy technologies. The societal relevance of autonomous systems and their sustainability will thus play an important role in their development. The research program of livMatS is characterized by highly interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers from a broad range of fields including engineering, chemistry, physics, biology, psychology, the humanities, and sustainability sciences.

The livMats Cluster of Excellence is offering the following PhD position for the project: Chemistry of triboelectric materials / fluorinated polymers

Project description

The triboelectric effect can be used to power a functional materials system by harvesting mechanical energy from its surroundings. This project aims to develop a unique material pair for use in a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) for use in smart materials, rechargeable wearables and decentralized energy generation. The material pair in question are porous highly-fluorinated materials which are based on the unique Fluoropor Technology developed within the cluster. The second material investigated will be room-temperature liquid metals based on Gallium alloys. By harnessing the state-of-the-art 3D Printing capabilities of the clusters, small, integrated TENGs will be developed and assessed with the aim of providing this novel material design concept for integration of energy harvesting into a living materials system. The thesis will be part of an interdisciplinary research team which provides a holistic view on this emerging field in energy generation.



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