JOB DESCRIPTION

The open position is an Industrial PhD between the Delft University of Technlogy and TNO Rijswijk for the development and operation of a scaled CO2 electrolyzer for the production of ethylene. A substantial portion of the work will be in the design, development and testing of a stable electrochemical systems immune to various failure mechanisms. The developed concepts will then be scaled to 1000 cm2 electrode areas and subsequently extended to a stacked electrolyzer configuration. The role will require innovative system and cell design, materals sourcing, process flow development and experimental testing. Working and laboratory time will be split between TU Delft and TNO Rijswijk.
At TU Delft the researcher will work within a team of 5-8 PhDs/postdocs in the research group of Thomas Burdyny, and will have access to state-of-the-art 5 cm2 and 50 cm2 CO2 electrolyzer infrastructure and the Chemical Engineering Department’s broad set of equipment. At TNO Rijswijk the researcher will be stationed in electrochemical engineering research group headed by Michele Tedesco, and will aid in the continuing development of a multi-kW electrolyzer system.
The succesful candidate is expected to publish first-authored papers that advance state-of-the-art fundamental and applied knowledge in the research field. Further the candidate will present their work at national and international conferences while building their own personal career pathway in consultation with the project supervisors.
The PhD candidate is also expected to have regular interaction and exchange with the PhD candidate working in parallel on multi-scale modeling (at TU Delft Mechanical Eng & TNO), in order to provide a good feedback loop between modeling and experimental activities, to feed each other research with relevant input to accelerate the technology development.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

We’re looking for a candidate with:

• An MSc in chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, applied physics or similar.
• Able to work independently and as part of a greater team. Contributes to the social well-being and culture of the research group.
• A demonstrated record of an academic mindset illustrating critical thinking. For example through thesis or internship work.
• A pro-active and creative mind-set.
• Experience in performing and designing experiments with electrochemical systems is considered a plus.
• Fluent in English.
• Starting date planned for asap in 2025.
• A mix of curiosity-driven passion and result-oriented mentality.
• Good written and spoken communication skills.

Please refer the Job description for details