Postdoctoral Appointee: Researcher – Advanced Material and Membrane Development Energy Storage

Postdoctoral Researcher Opportunity

The Nanocomposite Materials and Membrane Manufacturing group in the Applied Materials Division (AMD) has an opening for a postdoctoral researcher to develop materials, membranes, and fabrication processes for energy storage applications. The researcher is expected to use solution-based synthesis approaches (e.g., electrospinning, slot-die coating, and 3D printing) to fabricate battery electrodes and solid electrolytes. We are seeking candidates who will be able to design experiments and develop methodologies to design material compositions, ink rheological properties, and coating and drying process conditions to fabricate membrane components with desired physics and ionic transport properties.

As part of the Materials Engineering Research Facilities (MERF), the Nanocomposite Materials and Membrane Manufacturing group perform science-based membrane synthesis and scaleup development by using roll-to-roll manufacturing and machine learning enabled in-line characterization and quality control methods. The group works closely with industry partners and academic collaborators to address real-world manufacturing challenges and develop next-generation energy-storage and conversion solutions.

The candidate will work within a multidisciplinary team with researchers at MERF and collaborators inside and outside Argonne. The candidate is expected to design and conduct experiments, analyze data and explore mechanisms behind the experimental observations, prepare technical reports and manuscripts, and support future project applications.

Major

Duties / Responsibilities:

• Explore optimum synthesis conditions for battery electrolyte material, solid-state electrolyte film, and membrane electrode fabrication.
• Formulate slurry to achieve desirable processibility for coating and printing.
• Study the coating and drying conditions to control membrane microstructures and transport properties.
• Design electrodes, electrolyte, and interfacial layers for solid-state batteries.
• Characterize mass transport phenomenon.
• Develop techniques and strategies for electrochemical measurements and post-mortem analysis.
• Write reports and high impact papers, and present research at conferences.
• Develop or support the development of collaborations with academia and industry.

Position Requirements:

• Recent or soon-to-be-completed PhD (typically completed within the last 0-5 years) in chemical engineering, material science, or related fields.
• Demonstrated knowledge in materials synthesis and characterization.
• Demonstrated knowledge in battery (e.g., lithium ion, solid-state, sodium ion, lithium air, lithium sulfur, etc.).
• Demonstrated knowledge of transport property study.
• Experience in ink synthesis and characterization.
• Experience in coating, printing, or any other wet-chemistry deposition techniques.
• Experience using analytical tools, such as X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), spectroscopy (FTIR and Raman), and electrochemical (EIS and battery cycler).
• Publication record with excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability/aptitude to contribute to proposal writing, write reports, and publish journal papers and patents.
• This position requires on-site presence at the Argonne campus in Lemont, Illinois, 5 days per week.
• Skilled oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with blade casting or slot-die coating.
• Experience with electrospinning.
• Experience with aerosol jet printing or 3D printing.
• Highly self-motivated candidate who demonstrates creative and proactive approaches towards scientific problem solving as evidenced by publications and recommendations.
• Proven track record showing the ability to carry out independent and collaborative research in a multidisciplinary team while meeting project milestones and deadlines.