PhD Student in developing efficient electrodes for electrosynthesis

Are you motivated to support the development of low-carbon technologies for the chemical industry?

Imagine a future where organic chemical reactions are driven with electricity from renewables instead of applying heat or pressure to transform reactants into products. Electroorganic synthesis holds great promise for developing this technology. However, to develop this technology, we must identify scaleable electrode materials made from earth-abundant elements to develop the technology at scale. We are actively looking for a motivated Ph.D. student to join the Giovannitti group in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology to make this vision true. If you are motivated to study the electrochemical properties of polymeric electrodes and are enthusiastic about working in collaboration with other group members to solve important and timely research questions, we can offer you a position in our lab.

Project description
The project is part of a multidisciplinary research collaboration where you will collaborate with researchers at Chalmers and with national and international research groups. The tasks of the position include the fabrication and characterization of electrodes based on polymeric semiconductors. These materials are designed to be solution-processible which allows the fabrication of multifunctional, low-cost electrodes on a large scale. You will characterize the fabricated electrodes using state-of-the-art electrochemical techniques and test their performance as single-phase electrodes in electrochemical synthesis. Next to developing a broad knowledge and expertise in electrochemistry, you will develop new methodologies for investigating the bulk activity of polymeric electrodes, including measuring the diffusion coefficient of reactants and products migrating into and out of the electrodes during operation. You will work closely with the synthetic subgroup of the Giovannitti groups at Chalmers and will collaborate with national and international research groups to benchmark the performance of the fabricated electrodes. Research visits to national and international research groups and facilities are encouraged and will enable you to learn from experts in the field.

About the research group
The research mission of the Giovannitti group focuses on the design and synthesis of next-generation polymeric organic semiconductors for electrochemical applications. We develop polymeric semiconductors for electrochemical devices, including bioelectronics, electrocatalysis, and electrochemical synthesis. We have strong expertise in designing tailor-made electrode materials that achieve high performance in electrochemical devices and have a broad knowledge of electrode fabrication.

Major responsibilities
The Ph.D. student will: 


• Be responsible for the fabrication and characterization of electrodes based on polymeric semiconductors.  
• Use state-of-the-art electrochemical characterization methods to evaluate the performance (activity, selectivity, and stability) of the fabricated electrodes. 
• Develop new tools to investigate the bulk activity of electrodes and will explore opportunities for developing efficient scalable and low-cost electrodes for electrochemical synthesis. 
• Have the opportunity to study the physical properties and structure-property relationships of the fabricated electrodes at advanced characterization at national and international research facilities.  

In addition, 10 percent of your time will be dedicated to departmental duties with opportunities to develop your teaching skills for undergraduate courses. 

Qualifications
The successful candidate has: 


• A Master’s degree in Chemistry, Physics, Materials Science, or equivalent (or be in the process of completing a Master’s degree). You must have a master's level degree corresponding to at least 240 higher education credits. 
• Experience with electrochemistry and electrochemical characterization methods is required.  

Expertise and knowledge in the electrochemistry of pi-conjugated polymers is beneficial but not mandatory.  

Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the work, the candidate is expected to have excellent collaboration skills to work with team members at Chalmers and collaborators located in Sweden and abroad. A very good capability of communicating scientific results in English, both orally and in writing is required. 

Contract terms
Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of five years.
Read more about doctoral studies at Chalmers here.

We offer
Chalmers offers a cultivating and inspiring working environment in the coastal city of Gothenburg. 
Read more about working at Chalmers and our benefits for employees.

Chalmers aims to actively improve our gender balance. We work broadly with equality projects, for example the GENIE Initiative on gender equality for excellence. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.

Application procedure
Please click here for information about the application procedure and to apply.

Application deadline: 2024-02-15

For questions, please contact:
Prof. Alexander Giovannitti,
alexander.giovannitti@chalmers.se

*** Chalmers declines to consider all offers of further announcement publishing or other types of support for the recruiting process in connection with this position. ***