PhD candidate in Closing the Battery Loop Using Pyro-hydro Metallurgy

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NTNU is now announcing 43 individual PhD positions that will contribute to a greater understanding of system effects, societal changes and conflicts of interest related to the sustainability challenges. These positions are divided into 9 interdisciplinary projects with mainly 4-7 PhD
positions in each project (https://www.ntnu.no/sustainability/calls ). In this position, the candidate is expected to cooperate with the other PhD students in Sustainability - Repurposing and recycling batteries by HolE-LIB - NTNU

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The Department of Material Science and Engineering has a vacancy for a PhD student within the field of pyro- and hydrometallurgy with special focus on recycling of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The period of employment is 3 years with the possibility of 1 year duty work upon agreement.

About the position
The Department of Material Science and Engineering (IMA) and the Department of Chemical Engineering (IKP) has joined forces as both departments have strategic efforts within sustainable metallurgy and application of material science and chemical engineering to extract and recycle valuable elements from secondary resources including electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

The current position will be part of the Resources, Energy & Environment (IMA-REM) research group with a co-supervisor from the Environmental Engineering and Reactor Technology (IKP-EEART) research group.
 

From Norway’s perspective, the battery value chain can be seen as an exceptional sustainable value creation opportunity primarily based on Norway's comparative advantage with a competence-driven materials sector based on renewable power. The sustainability depends in part on the ability to reuse and recycle batteries and the compounds they contain. Research into factors which affect customer acceptance in case of repurposed batteries is so far extremely limited. On the other hand, a robust recycling process needs to be developed that can cater to different battery types, designs, chemistries, etc. for competitive disruption of the battery market. Currently, there exists no techno-economically efficient Li recycling process and further, the graphite from LIB battery anodes is not recycled. Development of innovative separation processes are expected to positively impact the circular economy and enable sustainable business model (SBM) innovation. 

The current project aims to develop a holistic understanding of the fate of end-of-life batteries by addressing technical, economic, and design perspectives along the battery value chain, complemented by evaluation of SBM scenarios within reuse, repurposing and recycling.