PhD in the Advanced Manufacture of Instrumented “Smart” Batteries

The application of battery technologies is set to revolutionise many aspects of our lives, from the wide spread adoption of electric vehicles, the future electrification of aircraft and the deployment of large scale batteries to support decarbonisation of the electrical network. Often within such applications, many hundreds or thousands of individual battery cells are connected together to form a complete battery pack. Even though significant improvements have been made in battery energy and power density, the battery remains a passive device in which elementary instrumentation is added to ensure safe operation.

The aim of this PhD is to research the opportunities to embed novel sensors directly within the battery cell at the point of manufacture. Potentially, this will improve overall battery performance and extend life. Further, it may be possible to quantify, in real-time, operating parameters that are currently unmeasurable using traditional sensing methods, allowing us to predict the onset of key safety events, such as thermal runaway.

Essential and desirable criteria

Applicants should have a have a minimum 2.1 undergraduate (BEng, MEng, BSc) and/or postgraduate masters’ qualification (MSc) with 65% or above in subject areas a scientific or engineering subject in which experimental or laboratory based research was a strong component. They should have:

• a good understanding of electrical and electronic engineering principles
• a good understanding of sensors, data acquisition and control
• an appreciation of electro-chemistry, the electrical properties of materials
• an interest in advanced manufacturing concepts would be advantageous.

Start Date: We would ideally like someone to start as soon as possible, but we can offer some flexibility on this - please contact us to discuss