About the Project
Solid-state batteries are at the forefront of next-generation Li and beyond Li-ion battery technologies. The sustainability of solid-state battery electrolytes needs to be considered from cradle to grave if solid-state batteries are to become a truly green solution for future energy storage. The use of critical minerals, such as rare earth elements and indium, and energy intensive materials processing, leads to long term sustainability challenges. Strategies to recycle solid-state batteries are also still in their infancy.
This project will utilise a wide range of state-of-the-art computational chemistry techniques based on density functional theory (DFT) and machine learning interatomic potentials to study the properties of new earth abundant oxide, halide and sulphide solid-state electrolytes. A key focus of the project will be the computational design of new solid-state electrolyte materials with enhanced recyclability. The project will also involve the development of long-timescale dynamics modelling techniques to probe the atomistic transport mechanisms in the bulk and at interfaces in next-generation sustainable solid-state batteries electrolytes. As part of the project, you will work closely with members of the group working on the experimental synthesis, and advanced electrochemical and structural characterisation of new solid-state electrolyte materials.
Throughout the project, there will be opportunities to attend conferences and training courses. The project will benefit from interdisciplinary sustainable energy networks at the University of Aberdeen including the newly formed Aberdeen Centre for Energy and Sustainability and the Centre for Energy Transition. The project will also involve wider collaborations with universities from across Scotland through the ScotCHEM network and collaboration with researchers at the University of Austin Texas, University of Birmingham and University of St Andrews.
The start date of the project is negotiable, but is expected to start in 2026.