Master Thesis/Internship in organic coatings for lithium metal anode

Facing the Challenges of our time

Help us grow and be more impactful!

The “Coatings for Energy Devices” group of our “Sustainable Energy” Business Unit based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, is currently looking for an intern in Development of Organic-Inorganic Coatings for Lithium metal anode.

Your mission :

Develop an organic (or inorganic/organic composite) coating solution for lithium metal anodes improving the cell performance (cyclability, CE) compared to the uncoated counterpart. The improvement should be demonstrated in a lithium metal battery with solid polymer electrolyte.

The objective of the project is to develop and optimize a polymer coating using different synthesis routes (ex: spin coating, blade coating, drop casting, etc.) to obtain:

• Several polymer matrices to be coated on lithium metal (using different polymer structures, evaluate the impact of the thickness of the coating on cyclability)
• Once a polymer matrix is performing well, use inorganic fillers to enhance the electrochemical performance (e.g. ionic conductivity, transference number, interfacial resistance).

 

Your responsabilities :

The selected candidate will perform the following tasks:

Polymer coating synthesis:

• Develop a polymer recipe that can be coated on lithium metal (wet, spin, blade, etc. coating).
• Evaluate the impact of inorganic fillers concentration on the electrochemical performance.

Materials preparation and cell assembly:

• Preparation of all the cell components
• Coin cells assembly.

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and its interpretation:

• Measurement of the interfacial resistance and its dependence on the type of polymer coating.

Electrochemical measurements:

• Li//SS LSV to estimate the electrochemical stability window (ESW).
• Li//Li for overpotential estimation and interfacial compatibility with lithium metal.
• Cyclability in Li//LFP or Li//NMC configuration with the goal of CE>99%.

Material characterization:

• SEM for surface investigation at higher magnification.
• EDX analysis for elemental composition
• FTIR analysis for composition
• Post-mortem analysis of cycled batteries.

Project reporting

• Record of all the experiments in a laboratory notebook.
• Give oral presentations to the team.
• Final report of the master’s thesis.

 

Your profile :

Know-how:

• BSc in materials science or chemistry (experience in batteries is an advantage)
• Professional proficiency in English (oral and written), French is a plus.

Interpersonal skills:

• Open-minded, creative, innovative, and result-oriented mindset
• Highly motivated
• Team player with good communication skills to interact constructively with our colleagues and partners.

CSEM mission and values

Our mission is the development and transfer of innovative technologies to the Swiss industry. Our objective is to make an impact on our customers and on society at large in the fields of precision manufacturing, digital technologies and sustainable energy. Our strength is the excellence of our people, about 550 passionate specialists dedicated to innovation and technology transfer. We believe that strong values support the successful development of our organization as well as the harmonious and balanced development of all our employees.

We are

• A unique place between research and industry at the cutting edge of new technologies
• An innovative, non-profit, and employee-driven company
• A dynamic, multidisciplinary, and multicultural environment
• A solar team focused on enabling solutions to energy challenges for a sustainable world

Working@CSEM means

• being part of a passionate community
• incredible flexibility, attractive working conditions, and great opportunities of development
• benefit from a management style based on trust & feedback and that favors a work-life balance

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity.

We look forward to receiving your complete application file via (CV, cover letter, certificates & diplomas) our job page.

Preference will be given to professionals applying directly.