Scientific aim:
The development of green hydrogen as a key enabler of the energy transition is driven by ambitious goals and targets set by the European Commission, among others, as part of the Green Deal and the Repower Europe strategy. Achieving these targets is expected to drive down costs, resulting in positive business cases. Based on these targets, the market for electrolysis plants in Europe alone will be a multi-billion euro market, making it attractive for the European manufacturing industry to invest heavily in the technology.

However, the technology is not yet fully mature, which leads to significant risks during implementation. This results in much higher costs than estimated. Innovations across the value chain are needed to reduce these risks and lower costs. HyPRO is a national project, where multiple academic and industrial partners, focus on reducing (technical) risks across the value chain, which expected to have a substantial impact on the levelized cost of hydrogen.

https://groenvermogennl.org/project/hypro-onderzoek-naar-technische-risicos-en-kostenverlaging-van-groene-waterstof/

This PhD position will focus on the development and evaluation of electrode materials and porous transport layers for AEM water electrolysis.

Responsibilities and tasks:
The research tasks are highly interdisciplinary and will perfectly align with emerging research lines and granted projects at DIFFER.

• Development and characterization of electrodes for oxygen and hydrogen evolution reaction
• Evaluation of electrode materials in electrochemical half-cells and device level
• Development and characterization of porous transport layers as electrode supports
• Functionalization of porous transport layers with active catalysts and evaluation in electrochemical half-cells and device level
• Assembling, characterization and evaluation of AEM membrane electrode assemblies
• Physicostructural material characterization (XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM)
• Gas phase analysis of reaction products (GC, MS, FTIR)
• Preparation of scientific papers and conference communications.
• Supervision of bachelor and master students.
• Contribution to the scientific & collaborative research environment at DIFFER & TU/e.

Qualifications:
We are looking for a qualified and motivated candidate that meets the following requirements:

• Education as chemist, chemical engineer, materials scientist or similar in BSc and MSc level
• Practical experience in the areas of polymeric membrane fuel cells or electrolysers, electrocatalysis, electrochemistry in MSc level would be an asset
• Strong communication skills and attitude to participate successfully in multidisciplinary projects
• Ability to work well individually and as a team member
• Good communication skills in English (both written and spoken)

This position is for 1 FTE, will be for a period of 4 years and is graded in pay scale PhD. Starting salary is 2884 EUR in the first year and will increase to 3694 EUR in the fourth year of the employment. The position will be based at DIFFER (www.differ.nl) and the working location will be at TU Eindhoven. When fulfilling a position at DIFFER, you will have an employee status at NWO. You can participate in all the employee benefits NWO offers. We have a number of regulations that support employees in finding a good work-life balance. For example a holiday allowance of 8% and an end-of year bonus of 8.33%.

At DIFFER we believe that a workforce diverse in gender, age and cultural background is key to performing excellent research. We therefore strongly encourage everyone to apply. More information on working at NWO can be found at the NWO website (https://www.nwo-i.nl/en/working-at-nwo-i/jobsatnwoi/)

Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research

The Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research (DIFFER) performs leading fundamental research on materials, processes, and systems for a global sustainable energy infrastructure. We work in close partnership with (inter)national academia and industry. Our user facilities are open to industry and university researchers. As an institute of the Dutch Research Council (NWO) DIFFER plays a key role in fundamental research for the energy transition.

We use a multidisciplinary approach applicable on two key areas, solar fuels for the conversion and storage of renewable energy and nuclear fusion – as a clean source of energy.