The Cluster of Excellence livMatS develops completely novel, bioinspired materials systems that adapt autonomously to various environments and harvest clean energy from their surroundings. The intention of these purely technical – yet in a behavioral sense quasi-living – materials systems is to meet the demands of humans with regard to pioneering environmental and energy technologies. The societal relevance of autonomous systems and their sustainability will thus play an important role in their development. The research program of livMatS is characterized by highly interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers from a broad range of fields including engineering, chemistry, physics, biology, psychology, the humanities, and sustainability sciences.
The livMats Cluster of Excellence is offering the following position:
Post Doc position for the Project: Development of high energy and power photostorage devices (SolStore II)
Envisaged starting: as soon as possible or upon agreement
Project description
Within the project Solstore II we aim at developing integrated solar-charging energy storage devices with high energy and power density as self-sufficient energy and power sources enabling energy autonomy in materials systems. Up to date, several types of monolithic photosupercapacitors were successfully developed within livMatS via the monolithic integration of carbon based electrochemical double layer supercapacitors (EDLC) with different types of solar cells (perovskite solar cells, silicon solar cells, organic solar cells).[1-3]
Despite the high conversion efficiencies of these devices, operation voltages were restricted to the operation voltage output of the respective solar cells (< 1V) and to the chemical stability window of the supercapacitor system (1.23 V water splitting), thereby limiting storage capacitance and hence energy and power densities.
To tackle this limitation, novel high energy, and power density photosupercapacitors shall be developed via the monolithic integration of high voltage solar cells (provided by our livMatS collaborators) with high energy density pseudocapacitors and/or hybrid supercapacitors (developed by us), combining capacitive and faradaic charge storage, while satisfying the voltage requirement of the chosen solar cell. The Post Doc candidate will develop storage devices featuring large energy density without compromising power density and high-rate capability at high current densities. For this, 3D architectured electrodes will be designed by 3D-printing.
To achieve even higher energy densities, monolithic photobatteries will be developed via the integration of a battery system with a high voltage solar cell. Here compatible battery types satisfying the voltage requirement of the chosen solar cell without limiting the energy density will be targeted (a. o. Li-ion and Li-S/(Se) batteries). The Post Doc candidate will be devoted to the development of high-energy density and stable battery electrodes and systems matching the solar cell Voc.
Work on the integration between the developed storage systems with the chosen solar cells is integral part of the Post Doc’s responsibility and will be performed in cooperation with the involved livMatS cooperation partners as well as extensive characterization of the devices to better understand their working principles and to identify limiting factors.
Finally, the Post Doc candidate shall assist in the coordination of the project, supervise and coordinate the lab work between the involved livMatS groups, coordinate the shared Lab of Area A as well as assist in publication and report writing.
References:
(1) Berestok, T.; Diestel, C.; Ortlieb, N.; Glunz, S. W.; Fischer, A. A Monolithic Silicon‐Mesoporous Carbon Photosupercapacitor with High Overall Photoconversion Efficiency. Adv. Mater. Technol. 2022, 2200237. https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.202200237.
(2) Delgado Andrés, R.; Berestok, T.; Shchyrba, K.; Fischer, A.; Würfel, U. A New Figure of Merit for Solar Charging Systems: Case Study for Monolithically Integrated Photosupercapacitors Composed of a Large‐Area Organic Solar Cell and a Carbon Double‐Layer Capacitor. Sol. RRL 2022, 6 (10), 2200614. https://doi.org/10.1002/solr.202200614.
(3) Berestok, T.; Diestel, C.; Ortlieb, N.; Buettner, J.; Matthews, J.; Schulze, P. S. C.; Goldschmidt, J. C.; Glunz, S. W.; *Fischer, A. High‐Efficiency Monolithic Photosupercapacitors: Smart Integration of a Perovskite Solar Cell with a Mesoporous Carbon Double‐Layer Capacitor. Sol. RRL 2021, 5 (11), 2100662. https://doi.org/10.1002/solr.202100662.
Candidate profile:
We are looking for a highly motivated candidate who:
• holds a PhD degree in chemistry, physical-chemistry, material science or related fields;
• has a profound knowledge and experience in chemistry, materials chemistry, electrochemistry, and ideally electrochemical storage systems (supercapacitors, batteries);
• has hands on experience in wet chemical material syntheses, material processing and material characterization;
• is strongly motivated to execute experimental work;
• has strong academic writing skills as demonstrated by previously published papers and submitted proposals;
• can assist student project work, exercise and lab sessions for chemical lab courses;
• is highly independent, flexible and proactive and capable of critical thinking;
• enjoys working in an international, diverse and team oriented environment;
• is experienced in project management and coordination;
• has very good written and spoken English skills;
Knowledge of the German language is not mandatory, but advantageous for the long-term.
Please hand in:
• Letter of intent detailing why you are interested in this specific position and how your previous research qualifies you for the project (up to 1,500 words)
• Curriculum Vitae with list of publications
• Certified copies of your university degree(s) with grades (BA and MA certificate / Diploma certificate and transcript)
• Short summary of your PhD and master’s thesis (up to 1,000 words)
• Work sample (journal article, up to 5,000 words)
• Suggestion of two references with contact details
Your documents will not be returned after the application process. For this reason, please submit copies only. The position is funded until 31 December 2025. The salary will be determined in accordance with TV-L E13. We are particularly pleased to receive applications from women for the position advertised here.
Please send your application in English including supporting documents mentioned above citing the reference number 00003070. Application deadline is 23 June 2023.
Application is to be emailed as one MERGED PDF file to positions@livmats.uni-freiburg.de.
For questions about the project, contact Prof. Anna Fischer at anna.fischer@ac.uni-freiburg.de.