PhD Position (m/f/d) | Operando characterization of electrochemical carbon capture processes

PhD Position (m/f/d) | Operando characterization of electrochemical carbon capture processes

The Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science is one of the most internationally renowned research institutes. More than 400 employees in 5 scientific departments conduct and facilitate top-level research on historic grounds in Berlin-Dahlem, which is unique worldwide.

The Department of Interface Science at the Fritz-Haber-Institut offers a PhD position.

The Department of Interface Science, headed by Prof. Beatriz Roldan Cuenya at the Fritz-Haber-Institute carries out cutting-edge research on advanced functional materials with applications in heterogeneous catalysis, energy conversion and electrochemistry. By combining unique synthesis methods, state-of-the-art tools for experimental characterization and advanced approaches to data analysis, atomistic details of thermal catalysis and electrochemical reactions at gas/solid and liquid/solid interfaces are revealed. In particular, structure-reactivity correlations on nanostructured materials can be established, paving the way for the rational design of novel catalytic materials.

Project: Operando characterization of electrochemical carbon capture processes

We have an immediate opening for a PhD student position in the Carbon capture group, led by Dr. Valentin Briega Martos. Carbon capture technologies are a key component of CO2 management, with the most common examples using absorbent solutions with capture agents to bind the CO2 and release in a subsequent step in a purified stream. However, these methods are limited by the temperature swings needed for adsorption and desorption, resulting in low efficiencies. One alternative is to directly reduce the CO2 in the capture liquids to high-value chemicals by using electricity coming from renewable energies such as wind and solar energy. In order to optimize these technologies, the mechanisms of the reduction of the adducts between CO2 and the capture molecule need to be understood, as well as the dynamic reconstruction processes of the used electrocatalysts under reaction conditions. We will employ in situ and operando characterization methods coupled to benchtop electrochemical cells and electrolyzers, such as spectroscopy and mass spectrometry techniques, to identify and quantify the reaction intermediates and products from the reduction of capture liquids. Surface characterization and on-line dissolution techniques will be used to track the dynamic changes of the surface and the morphologies of the catalysts while the reaction is taking place. The obtained results will improve our understanding of the electrochemical carbon capture processes that will help designing new electrocatalysts and electrochemical processes to advance this technology.