Proton Conductor Postdoctoral Research Associate

at  Idaho National Laboratory

DESCRIPTION

Idaho National Laboratory is hiring a Proton Conductor Postdoctoral Research Associate to work in our Irradiated Fuels and Materials department. Our team works a 4x10 schedule located out of our Safety and Tritium Applied Research facility located at the INL site with every Friday off. Work will also be conducted with the Chemical Processing Group in the Energy Innovation Laboratory in town.
You will perform in laboratory experiments in the electrochemical testing and characterization for proton conducting ceramics for fusion energy tritium processing applications. The most likely path for fusion energy uses the deuterium-tritium fusion reaction which requires an unprecedented quantity of tritium processing. Proton conductors could improve several unit processes in the fusion energy tritium fuel cycle.
Requires experience in solid oxide electrochemical cell protocol/testing standard development, oxygen ionic and protonic conductors, ceramics fabrication, electrode kinetics and electrocatalysts, and degradation mechanism investigations. We ask that you have expertise in laboratory techniques such as Impedance Spectroscopy, GC/MS, FTIR, temperature programmed experiments, and vacuum equipment for in-line measurements, and other common characterization methods. The expectation for you are that you will work well and efficiently in a highly team-oriented environment. You will required to communicate with team members, mentor, and INL management. Activities that you will undertake include: hands-on laboratory collection and interpretation of data, document preparation (reports, peer-review journal articles), preparation and presentation of results and interpretations to internal and external communities, and, propose new research concepts and work with team members to write and submit proposals for new work. You also will remain current with the literature in their technical area.

QUALIFICATIONS

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• Ph.D. in chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, nuclear engineering, materials science, materials engineering, chemistry, physics, or related field within the past five years.

• Experience and working knowledge of the fabrication and testing of solid oxide fuel cells.
• Hands-on experience with ultra-high vacuum systems, gas analysis, and other laboratory equipment.DESIRED REQUIREMENTS
• Working knowledge of the design and assembly of vacuum systems, gas systems, and data acquisition and controls.
• Experience with radiological work.

SELECTIVE SERVICE REQUIREMENTS

To be eligible for employment at INL males born after December 31, 1959 must have registered with the Selective Service System (SSS). For more information see www.sss.gov.

Please refer the Job description for details