PhD Studentship in Chemistry – Computational Exploration of Ionic Conduction in Palmierites

PhD Studentship in Chemistry – Computational Exploration of Ionic Conduction in Palmierites

Award Summary

100% home tuition fees, and an annual living allowance of £17,668 (UKRI rates).

Overview

Ensuring reliable, clean energy sources is one of the greatest challenges facing society today. Hydrogen fuel cells offer a real solution: the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen produces water and electricity, providing a clean alternative to fossil fuels. Although ceramic fuel cells are highly efficient and do not require ultra-pure hydrogen or expensive electrodes, it is essential to lower their running temperature to below 600 °C to reduce costs and increase reliability and lifetime. To reach this important goal, further fundamental research is urgently needed to discover new oxide ion/proton conductors with high conductivity at temperatures below 600 °C. In this regard, we have been investigating a family of compounds known as palmierites and have shown for the first time that the palmierite compound Sr3V2O8 presents significant oxide ion and proton conductivity. This is an exciting new direction in solid-state chemistry research.

We have a PhD studentship available to further investigate ionically conducting palmierites which is fully funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

The studentship will be based in the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences at Newcastle University with Dr James A Dawson. The candidate will use state-of-the-art atomistic modelling techniques (e.g., molecular dynamics and density functional theory) on a range of different palmierite materials and their interfaces to rationalise structure-property relationships and enable future materials design.

The student will also work closely with Professor Abbie McLaughlin at the University of Aberdeen who will be focusing on the synthesis of palmierites that exhibit high ionic conductivity at intermediate temperatures. 

Number Of Awards

1

Start Date

April or September 2023 

Award Duration

3 years

Application Closing Date

16 December 2022

Sponsor

Leverhulme Trust

Supervisors

Dr James A Dawson (Chemistry, Newcastle) and Professor Abbie McLaughlin (Chemistry, Aberdeen) 

Eligibility Criteria

You must have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2:1 honours degree or international equivalent, in chemistry, materials science, physics or a related subject.

The award is available to UK applicants only. 

How To Apply

To apply for a studentship, you must register and apply through the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal  

Once registered select ‘Create a Postgraduate Application’. 

Use ‘Course Search’ to identify your programme of study: 

• search for the ‘Course Title’ using the programme code: 8100F
• Research Area: Chemistry
• select ‘PhD Chemistry (full time) – Chemistry’ as the programme of study

You will then need to provide the following information in the ‘Further Questions’ section: 

• a ‘Personal Statement’ (this is a mandatory field) – upload a document or write a statement directly in to the application form
• the studentship code SNES231 in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field
• when prompted for how you are providing your research proposal – select ‘Write Proposal’. You should then type in the title of the research project from this advert

In addition, before you submit your application you will need to upload the following supporting documentation: 

• covering letter and CV. The covering letter must state the title of the studentship, quote reference code SNES231 and state how your interests and experience relate to the project
• degree transcripts and certificates and, if English is not your first language, a copy of your English language qualification if already completed.

You will not be able to submit your application until you have submitted all required documents/information. 

Contact Details

Dr James A Dawson (james.dawson@newcastle.ac.uk )