Green recovery and reuse of industrial metals from energy and electronics-based Systems (GREEBS)

The growing demand for green technologies and products such as solar panels, electric vehicles and energy storage systems correlates with more need in metals used in their production. For example, the World Bank estimated that over 3 billion tons of minerals and metals will be needed to deploy wind, solar and geothermal power and energy storage with an increase in demand by more than 300% for indium and silver compared to more than 200% for copper, neodymium, and zinc by 2050. Therefore, enabling recycling and reuse of these metals could play a crucial part in the low-carbon transition and to ensure their availability to future generations. GREEBS project aims to develop a relatively simple and industrial relevant green recovery and reuse of precious metals for industrial applications such as conductive inks and pastes widely used in energy and electronics-based Systems such as conductive connectors in printed circuit boards, flexible aerospace and automotive components, photovoltaics and current collectors in flexible batteries and supercapacitors.

The project will be carried out in collaboration with DZP technologies, Cambridge, a company in advance materials and formulations for plastic electronics, wearables, 3D Printing, energy storage and Internet-of-things. Different processes for selective metal extraction using biomaterials including agricultural waste and non-living biomass will be investigated. The resulting metals will be formulated into nanoparticles using both the facilities at the University and at DZP technology. A range of characterisation techniques will be used including particle size and zeta potential, drop shape analysis, atomic microscopy, X-ray crystallography, X-ray fluorescence and electron microscopy. At the end of this 3-year project, the candidate would have developed a range of skills in green technology, new approach to metals recovery and reuse in formulations such nanoparticles for conductive inks, pastes and adhesives applications. 

For further information regarding the project or an informal discussion please contact Director of Studies, Dr Fideline Tchuenbou-Magaia [Email Address Removed]

Applications

To apply for the PhD Research Studentship applicants must hold a first class/distinction at Master and/or Bachelor level of study.

Applications to include one identified project, a full CV (including 2 referee names and contact details), transcripts and a letter of application outlining the motivation for applying (maximum of 2 pages). Applicants from outside UK must provide evidence of English Language requirement as stated in https://www.wlv.ac.uk/research/research-degrees/

Application submission deadline is 10:00am BST 19 June 2023 to [Email Address Removed]

A shortlist of candidates will be prepared from the pool of applicants, in line with Faculty of Science and Engineering Post Graduate Research (PGR) studentship selection criteria, who will be invited to attend an interview with a panel of academic staff, week commencing 26 June 2023.

Following this process all successful candidates will be notified to enrol in July 2023 on a PhD degree programme. The studentship award will include tuition fees at home level for the first three years of full-time study including any write-up period fees and research support fees.

For further information on fees https://www.wlv.ac.uk/apply/funding-costs-fees-and-support/fees-and-costs/research-fees/

Informal enquiries are welcome and should be directed to individual Director of Studies mentioned above.