Discovery of new oxide ceramic materials

New inorganic materials are needed to advance technology and to develop our basic scientific understanding of the connection between chemical composition, crystal structure and physical properties. Solid state oxide materials are very important in several application areas including batteries, catalysis and electrochemistry, fuel cells, and electronics. This PhD project is an exciting opportunity for the experimental synthesis and detailed characterisation of new inorganic oxides. The project will combine synthetic solid-state chemistry, advanced structural analysis (crystallography) and measurement of physical properties, with the opportunity to focus on one or more of these aspects during the project. The project will concentrate on the discovery of oxide materials with new structure types that explores boundaries between existing oxide strucutres, as exemplified by material which combine different structural motifs [Collins 2021, Han 2021].

You will work closely with a team of computational and experimental material chemists, and will participate in the selection of synthetic targets in a process that uses computational and machine learning methods together with chemical understanding. The project based in the recently-opened Materials Innovation Factory (https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/materials-innovation-factory/) at the University of Liverpool and is associated with the EPSRC Programme Grant “Digital navigation of chemical space for function”. As well as obtaining knowledge and experience in materials synthesis and crystallographic techniques, you will develop skills in teamwork and scientific communication, as computational and experimental researchers within the team work closely together. There are extensive opportunities to use national synchrotron X-ray and neutron scattering facilities.

Applications are welcomed from students with a 2:1 or higher master’s degree or equivalent in Chemistry, Physics, or Materials Science, particularly those with some of the skills directly relevant to the project outlined above.

The funding for this position may be a University of Liverpool School Funded Studentship (SFS) or an EPSRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) studentship. The eligibility details of both are below.

EPSRC eligibility

Applications from candidates meeting the eligibility requirements of the EPSRC are welcome – please refer to the EPSRC website http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/skills/students/help/eligibility/.

This studentship is funded by the EPSRC DTP scheme and is offered for 3.5 years in total. It provides full tuition fees and a stipend of approx. £17,668 (this is the rate from 01/10/2022) full time tax free per year for living costs. The stipend costs quoted are for students starting from 1^st October 2022 and will rise slightly each year with inflation.

The funding for this studentship also comes with a budget for research and training expenses of £1000 per year, and for those that are eligible, a disabled students allowance to cover the costs of any additional support that is required.

Due to a change in UKRI policy, this is now available for Home, EU or international students to apply. However, please be aware there is a limit on the number of international students we can appoint to these studentships per year.

University of Liverpool School Funded Studentship

Further Information:

The inorganic materials chemistry group, led by Professor Rosseinsky at the University of Liverpool (https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/chemistry/research/rosseinsky-group/about/), focusses its research on the discovery of new inorganic and hybrid organic-inorganic solid state compounds. The research involves developing new capability for materials discovery, discovering and exploring the chemistry of new classes of material, and developing materials for particular applications.

We are developing a new approach to materials discovery that integrates computational chemistry and increasingly computer science (for example, machine learning methods) into the experimental synthesis programme. This has led to the synthesis of a range of novel materials with a variety of functional properties. These successes arise from a close working relationship between computational and experimental researchers within the group, which is part of the Leverhulme Centre for Functional Materials Design (https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/leverhulme-research-centre/), where researchers with physical science and computer science backgrounds collaborate closely. The successful candidate will work in this cross-disciplinary environment, using their experimental skills in close collaboration with the computational expertise within the research group, to accelerate the discovery of new materials.

We have extensive facilities for the characterisation of many properties, providing an opportunity to learn many measurement and data analysis skills. We have extensive materials synthesis and characterisation capability including state-of-the-art laboratory space, powder (6 instruments (Mo, Cu, Co radiation) including two rotating anode instruments with variable temperature and atmosphere and in situ battery measurement capability) and single crystal (Rigaku rotating anode) X-ray diffraction; X-ray instrumentation for parallel sample and thin film analysis (Cu rotating anode), solvothermal reaction vessels, robotic liquid and solid handlers and synthesis robots both in our laboratories and in the Materials Innovation Factory, over 50 furnaces (muffle and tube), five ball mills including inert atmosphere capability, high pressure synthesis (Rockland multianvil), gas sorption/breakthrough measurements (Micromeritics, Quantachrome and Hiden instruments), GC-MS, liquid phase catalytic batch reactors (to 100 bar), gas phase catalytic reactors, TPR/TPO, FE-SEM, FTIR, particle sizing, NMR, (combinatorial) RHEED-monitored Pulsed Laser Deposition chambers for thin film growth (Neocera and PVD Products), multi-mode AFM (Agilent), spark plasma sintering (Thermal Technologies).

We have state-of-the-art equipment for solid state property measurements, for example: SQUID magnetometry (7T, ac option, magnetoelectric coefficient measurement, 4-1000K), PPMS (14T; for thermal and electrical transport, heat capacity, dielectric properties), Dilatometry, Laser Flash Analysis of thermal conductivity, Seebeck, Ferroelectric, piezoelectric and strain measurements, variable pO₂ dc conductivity and impedance spectroscopy; symmetrical and full-cell SOFC characterisation. We have the ability to make measurements on solid electrolytes over a range of temperatures (including low temperature) with sputtering-deposited electrodes all within a glove box. We have the capability to prepare battery cells (coin/Swagelok cells, crimping, disassembling) for electrochemical measurements (Biologic 6-channel potentiostat), all within a solvent glove box dedicated to working with Li and Mg electrode materials in particular.

Contact: Dr Luke Daniels ([Email Address Removed])