An attractive PhD position in one of the largest, interdisciplinary research centers in Europe! Directed at a young researcher interested in supercomputing, atomistic simulations, energy materials and cutting-edge scientific endeavor.

With computer-aided research, at the Institute of Energy and Climate Research - Theory and Computation of Energy Materials (IEK-13) at Forschungszentrum Julich GmbH (Research Center Julich), Germany, we provide essential contributions to the fundamental understanding of electrochemical phenomena, the development and characterization of tailored material solutions, and testing and optimization of energy technologies. High entropy (HE) metal oxides are a new class of cathode materials for Li- and Na-ion based energy storage systems. Owing to their compositional flexibility and fast ion transport, Li transition metal oxides (LTMO) with cation-disordered rocksalt (DRX) structures are interesting compounds for the battery applications. In such a multi-compound system, thermodynamically driven structural arrangement of cations determines performance of the material including energy density and rate capability. Atomistic simulations are powerful tools to predict electrochemical capabilities of novel DRX compounds

Within the the Computational Materials Modeling division (Dr. Piotr Kowalski) of the IEK-13 we perform atomistic modeling-based investigation of materials properties using world-class supercomputing facilities of Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University. Our work is undertaken in close partnership with the modeling group (Dr. Payam Kaghazchi) of the IEK-1 (Institute of Energy and Climate Research - Materials Synthesis and Processing). This project aims at development of a self-consistent approach to simulate and design DRXs as cathode materials for Li-ion batteries. The successful candidate will apply state-of-the-art methods of atomistic modeling and electronic structure calculations to simulate local atomic ordering and crystal structure, as well as redox mechanism in novel HE-LTMO-DRX cathode materials.

Apply on-line: https://www.fz-juelich.de/SharedDocs/Stellenangebote/_common/dna/2021D-054-EN-IEK-13.html

Inquiries: Dr. Piotr Kowalski ([email protected])