The BET unit is seeking a motivated MSc student interested in the development and validation of high-potential cathode materials designed to enhance the performance of next-generation lithium batteries. These cathodes, which operate above ~4.3 V vs. Li/Li⁺, offer the opportunity to significantly increase the energy density of batteries while reducing cell size and weight. However, their practical application requires careful optimization to address challenges such as structural stability, electrolyte compatibility, and long-term cycling durability. The thesis combines slurry optimization, and physicochemical/electrochemical characterization of cathode active material by assembling lab-scale cell prototypes to achieve good cycling stability and reversibility.
Ideal candidate requisites:
Reference people: Matteo Gandolfo (mgandolfo@fbk.eu)
The BET unit is seeking a motivated MSc student interested in the synthesis, optimization, and validation of solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) engineered to withstand high-voltage operation (>4.5 V vs. Li/Li⁺) in next-generation lithium batteries. While solid-state batteries promise unmatched safety and energy density, matching them with high-voltage cathodes introduces severe challenges, including narrow electrochemical stability windows, severe interfacial side reactions, and high interfacial impedance.
This project focuses on the development of advanced solid-state electrolyte systems and the engineering of stable electrode/electrolyte interfaces. The thesis combines electrolyte material synthesis/formulation, ionic conductivity optimization, and advanced electrochemical/interfacial characterization (e.g., evaluating critical current density and voltage hold limits) by assembling and testing lab-scale solid-state cell prototypes.
Ideal candidate requisites
The BET unit is seeking a motivated MSc student interested in the development and validation of high-capacity silicon-based anode electrodes using advanced thin-layer deposition techniques to enhance the performance of next-generation lithium batteries. Silicon offers a massive theoretical capacity compared to conventional graphite, presenting an ideal pathway to high-energy-density cells. However, its practical application is hindered by severe volumetric changes during lithiation/delithiation, leading to mechanical pulverisation and continuous SEI degradation. This project leverages thin-layer deposition techniques to engineer precisely controlled silicon architectures. The thesis combines deposition parameter optimisation, structural/morphological engineering, slurry optimization and physicochemical/electrochemical characterisation of the thin-film anodes by assembling lab-scale cell prototypes to achieve high areal capacity, superior cycling stability, and structural integrity.
The BET unit is seeking a MSc student interested in the development of Catholytes based on earth-abundant materials for Aqueous Redox Flow Batteries. Redox Flow Batteries (RFBs) are an electrochemical energy storage technology with several advantages for Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES), including decoupled power and energy and long lifetime. Commercial systems use vanadium-based electrolytes, posing cost and availability issues. Aqueous inorganic electrolytes represent a promising solution due to the abundance, low cost and environmental friendliness of the active species.
The thesis work will focus on the development of positive electrolytes for RFBs based on hearth abundant transition metals such as Iron and Manganese. The work will ground on a literature analysis of the existing redox couples with equilibrium voltage close to the top extreme of the water stability window and anolytes developed in previous works. After an evaluation on the most promising redox couples, the work will focus on preparation strategies and electrochemical characterization with three electrode cell and rotating disc electrode, and symmetric cell tests for performance evaluation.
Reference People: Mattia Duranti (duranti@fbk.eu)