PhD position in Physical Chemistry/Electrochemistry at the Institut des Sciences Chimiques de...
Universit de Rennes 1
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State University, Browse similar opportunities
The H2 production from the electrochemical reduction of water or protons at catalytic electrode materials is currently arousing tremendous interest among the international community. Indeed, H2 is very appealing because of its high mass energy density, which is about three times higher than that of gasoline. In that context, the efficiency of the release of H2 and O2 bubbles produced at the cathode and anode, respectively, greatly influences the yield of an electrolyzer which represents a critical issue for high-performance electrocatalysis.
The PhD work we propose will consist in:
(i) using controlled surface texture on mono- and bimetallic Ni-based porous electrodes allowing for a directed nucleation, growth, coalescence and transport of H2 bubbles;
(ii) characterizing the catalytic electrodes using a combination of surface characterization techniques (SEM, XPS and EDX);
(iii) evaluating the potential of the optimized electrodes for the electrolytic production of H2 in membraneless electrolyzers.
Challenging outcomes of this project will be in the implementation of effective membraneless electrolyzers producing high purity H2 from earth-abundant and cost-effective materials.
The PhD student will fabricate the textured and porous metallic electrodes using lithography and 3D printing techniques. She/he will perform their electrochemical/electrocatalytic characterizations and will determine the performance metrics (overpotential, current densities and long-term stability) for the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions. The recruited PhD student will collaborate with a team of physicists at IPR to work on the design and development of the experimental device allowing to monitor the gas bubble dynamics during electrocatalysis (high-speed videography coupled with a potentiostat).
Relevant references:
1) J. Tourneur, B. Fabre, et al. Molecular and Material Engineering of Photocathodes Derivatized with Polyoxometalate-Supported {Mo3 S4 } HER Catalysts, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 11954.
2) M. Kerdraon, JD. McGraw, B. Dollet and M.-C. Jullien, Self-Similar Relaxation of Confined Microfluidic Droplets, Phys. Rev. Lett. 2019, 123, 024501.
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