Research Fellow in Solar-driven Electrochemical System for Sustainable Direct CO2 Reduction

Ref Number

B04-03625

About us

To save our planet, we need to reduce greenhouse emissions but at the same time prevent depletion of our resources and provide sustainable energy solutions to satisfy the growing energy demand. CO2 capture, conversion to clean chemicals and secure storage for long-term utilization is a remarkably challenging task, but it has remarkable benefits. Direct (photo)electrochemical reduction is identified as the ideal method to convert CO2 into selective chemicals such as methanol under solar light irradiation or other renewable sources of energy, especially for liquid products at ambient temperature and pressure. Methanol is a clean, sustainable liquid fuel that can be stored on a large scale for a long time and used to replace fossil fuels as a means of energy storage, transportation fuel, and feedstock for synthetic hydrocarbons and their products, or even used directly in fuel cells. In this role, you will work on a European project, which aims to deliver next generation electrochemical system for sustainable direct CO2 capture and utilization/storage as clean solar fuel (NEXTCCUS, https://www.nextccus.eu/) on industrial scale in line with carbon circular economy via an innovative electrochemical system for low-energy-consuming, efficient/selective direct and continuous CO2 capture and conversion to methanol working at Standard Ambient Temperature and Pressure in a low-cost electrochemical (EC) reactor with 100% Faradaic efficiency and high durability. You will work on the materials design and cutting edge materials development, chemical precursor formulation and ink development, deposition and characterisation, and process optimisation of: (a) electrocatalyst nanostructure; (b) interlayer; and (c) membrane. In addition, you will participate in the development of scalable deposition equipment of the above materials for design and manufacturing of large area electrodes and membranes as well as the integration of the deposition equipment with printing technique, and testing of the integrated equipment, device/prototype package fabrication and standard evaluation. The final project demonstrators produced will be validated at the industrial facilities of one of the SME partners and the subsequent photovoltaic-EC being further processed and tested by the end-user partners in their testing facilities. You will be based at the UCL Institute for Materials Discovery (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-for-materials-discovery/) in central London and the UCL East campus, however the project is in collaboration with several other world renown European and US research institutions, companies and universities.

About the role

Applications are invited for a Research Fellow post at the Institute for Materials Discovery, University College London. This is an exciting project that aims to deliver next generation electrochemical system for sustainable direct CO2 capture and utilization/storage as clean solar fuel on industrial scale in line with carbon circular economy via an innovative electrochemical system for low-energy-consuming, efficient/selective direct and continuous CO2 capture and conversion to methanol. The system is designed to operate at Standard Ambient Temperature and Pressure in a low-cost electrochemical (EC) reactor with 100% Faradaic efficiency (FE) and high durability. Methanol is a clean, sustainable liquid fuel (near-zero NOx/SOx and pollutant emission) that can be stored on a large scale for a long time and used to replace fossil fuels as a means of energy storage, transportation fuel, and feedstock for synthetic hydrocarbons and their products, or even used directly in fuel cells. The post holder will work on the materials design and cutting-edge materials development, chemical precursor formulation and ink development, deposition and characterisation, and process optimisation of: (a) electrocatalyst nanostructure; (b) interlayer; and (c) membrane followed by implementation of scalable manufacturing techniques to develop photovoltaic-EC prototype package. The project involves strong national and international academic and industrial collaboration. In addition to the duties outlined above, the post holder will be required to actively involved in materials translational activities, development of prototype package, education and collaboration, and development of online translation, present results and reports at progress meetings, prepare papers for publication and contribute to research project supervision. The appointment is available immediately. Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 12 months in the first instance.

About you

PhD or equivalent in Materials Science/Engineering, Materials Chemistry, Physics, Chemistry and/or a broad range of relevant backgrounds in Science / Engineering degree. The successful candidate will have a keen interest in new materials design, precursor formulation, deposition, characterisation, and optimization of electrocatalyst nanostructure as well as device/prototype package fabrication and performance evaluation. The project also requires a highly motivated candidate with keen interest in scaling up the prototype system for direct solar-driven electrocatalytic CO2 reduction for green methanol production. Informal enquiries should be addressed to Dr Mojtaba Abdi Jalebi – m.jalebi@ucl.ac.uk.

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents we also offer some great benefits some of which are below: 41 Days holiday (including 27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days) Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE) Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan On-Site nursery On-site gym Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service Discounted medical insurance

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women. You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion here : https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/

Available documents

Download: Job description and person specification.docx