Synthesis & characterizations of new generations of organic electrolytes for electrochemical energy storage

PhD position (36 months) in Organic/Macromolecular Chemistry
@ CEA-Grenoble, France

Employer: CEA-Grenoble
Workplace: CEA-Liten and CEA-INAC, MINATEC Campus, Grenoble, France
Expected starting date: Oct. 1, 2015
Salary: € 1,800 up to € 2,200 gross salary per month depending on previous experience
Skills/Area: organic or macromolecular chemistry, electrochemical energy storage, electrolyte, lithium-ion battery

Starting in October 2015, a 36 months PhD position funded by the French Atomic and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA) and the French General Directorate for Armament (DGA) is immediately available in the CEA-Liten (Laboratory for Innovation in New Energy Technologies and Nanomaterials) and SPrAM (UMR5819-Structures and Properties of Molecular Architectures laboratory (CEA/CNRS/UGA)) labs of CEA-Grenoble (Rhone-Alpes region, France).

The CEA-Liten is a preeminent European Research Center in the areas of energy. In order to sustain its research program on lithium-ion battery, CEA-Liten and DGA invite applications for a 36-month PhD position dealing with the synthesis and characterizations of new generations of organic electrolytes for electrochemical energy storage. Under the co-supervision of Dr. Lionel Picard and Dr. Patrice Rannou, the PhD candidate will benefit from an international research environment, interdisciplinary training and state of the art facilities (chemistry lab, Lithium-compatible “dry lab”, MINATEC’s advanced characterization platforms). Excellent young scientists strongly motivated by working at the forefront of research and technology are encouraged to apply.

PhD project summary: Advanced batteries are key technological solutions to address climate and environmental challenges when cheap and/or sustainable energy supply are required. The development of efficient, safe and robust electrochemical storage devices appears today essential to mitigate the present world-wide dependence from fossil resources. Within existing technologies, Li-ion batteries are therefore foreseen as power sources of choice for the 21st century energy economy. While already successfully implemented for nomad and on board applications, innovation breakthroughs to enhance their energy density and long-term reliability are now critical for mastering the spatiotemporal variability of the energetic mix of conventional (but limited) fossil resources with alternative (but renewable) energy. This holds true on the long run for an ever sober consumption of energy. Strategically and spatially localized at the heart of an electrochemical cell, the electrolytic system is an ideal target to develop a new generation of high performance Lithium-ion batteries. The PhD research aims at developing a new electrolyte technology for encoding safety and efficient ionic transport into next generation high performance Lithium-ion batteries going well beyond the main-stream approaches based on Li salts-carbonates mixtures, Solid Polymer or Gel Polymer Electrolytes (SPEs/GPEs), or ceramic and inorganic glasses electrolytes. The new electrolytes will be integrated into battery prototypes and fully tested (multi-scale (in situ and in operando) structure/ionic transport correlations) and benchmarked with respect to existing technologies through collaboration with specialized teams of CEA-Liten and CEA-INAC.

Contacts:
Dr. Lionel Picard
E-mail: lionel.picard@cea.fr
CEA-Grenoble, Laboratory for Innovation in New Energy Technologies and Nanomaterials (LITEN)

Dr. Patrice Rannou
E-mail: patrice.rannou@cea.fr
CEA-Grenoble, Institute for Nanoscience and Cryogenics (INAC), UMR5819-SPrAM (CEA/CNR/UGA) lab.