Job Description
Job title:
Postgraduate Research Officer
Department/School:
Grade:
Department of Chemistry and Department of
Chemical Engineering
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Location:
Claverton Down Campus
Contract:
Fixed term 6 months
Job purpose
To carry out research at the University of Bath in the framework of a TSB project titled:
“Innovative nanoporous carbon materials for energy storage applications”
Reports to:
Dr Janet L. Scott (CH), Dr Davide Mattia (CE) and Dr Laura Torrente (CE)
Staff management responsibility
No direct management responsibility, although some supervision of other staff, e.g. technical
staff, or supervision of doctoral students may be required.
Special conditions
Will need to be available to travel to TSB project partners (MAST Carbon, Basingstoke;
Johnson Matthey, Sonning Common; Axeon, Dundee; Sharp, Oxford) for quarterly project
meetings and other ad hoc meetings, as required. Will be responsible for technology transfer to
MAST Carbon and may be required to conduct experiments (with appropriate supervision) at
MAST, or at other facilities, such as the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories at Harwell.
Human Resources
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Main duties and responsibilities
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Conduct extensive review of the scientific and patent literature on designated topics
pertaining to the research to be conducted and provide written summaries to the
project partners.
Design and conduct experiments on the dissolution and regeneration of cellulose
from solutions containing ionic liquids to prepare particles of specific size and
meso/microporosity as precursors to carbon materials for use in energy storage
applications
Design and test membrane reactors for the generation of the porous cellulose (or
other biopolymer) particles and provide appropriate design parameters/diagrams to
the project partners to facilitate scale-up.
Design, assist in building and test a full experimental setup, with recycling for
recovery/reuse of solvents and particle isolation units.
Prepare and characterise samples of biopolymer particles suitable for carbonisation at
project partner MAST Carbon, work alongside MAST personnel to carry out
carbonisation experiments followed by characterisation of particles using appropriate
microscopy and surface area techniques.
Assist PI/CIs with project management (organising, attending meetings and
corresponding with partners).
Assist in publishing results in academic literature, and disseminating results as
appropriate to the discipline, e.g. by presentations at conferences.
Participate regularly in project meetings (quarterly minimum) and prepare and deliver
high quality presentations to the project team and TSB monitoring officer.
Participate in the supervision of graduate students and undergraduate project student
and the assessment of student knowledge, where appropriate (under the supervision
of the PI/CIs).
Continually update knowledge and understanding in field or specialism to inform
research activity
Assist in the preparation of further funding proposals where appropriate and
associated with this body of work.
Provide a final, consolidated technical report to the TSB project team and assist with
technology transfer to MAST Carbon.
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Person Specification
Criteria
Essential
Desirable
Assessed by
A/F
I/T
R
Qualifications
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A PhD degree already awarded, or PhD
thesis submitted, in subject area of direct
relevance for the project, or an equivalent
professional qualification (or equivalent
standard for overseas applicants)
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Membership of an appropriate professional
body (e.g. IChemE, RSC, ACS)
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Experience/Knowledge
A sound understanding of reactor design and
principles of flow.
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Experience of working with porous particles,
biopolymers or ionic liquids.
Ability to collect and evaluate electron
microscopy data and/or surface area and
porosity data relevant to biopolymer particles.
Experience in the design of experimental
protocols and interpretation of results.
Demonstrates depth and breadth of specialist
knowledge of subject matter to contribute to
the research programme.
Demonstrates awareness of latest
developments in the field of research.
Demonstrates good publication record in high
quality, peer reviewed journals pursuant to
experience/opportunity.
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Skills
A developing ability to conduct individual
research work and to disseminate results
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Ability to organise own workload, with
guidance from senior colleagues if required.
Ability to write research reports and to
effectively disseminate outcomes.
Excellent verbal, interpersonal and written
communication skills.
Competent IT skills.
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Attributes
Innovation and developing creative solutions
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Enthusiasm and self-motivation.
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Tenacity – working to achieve own objectives
and overcoming obstacles
Ability to be an effective team worker.
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Commitment to safe working practices and
departmental procedures.
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Code: A/F – Application form, I/T – Interview/Test, R – References
Further Particulars
Synopsis of the Project
Opportunity for career development
The funded TSB project “Innovative nanoporous carbon materials for energy storage
applications” runs for 36 months and it is envisaged that, at the completion of their 17 month
contract, the PDRA candidate will be a very strong contender for a further 18 month contract position
at SME MAST Carbon (Basingstoke, UK) to scale up the production of the carbon materials
developed.
Innovative nanoporous carbon materials for energy storage applications
Nanoporous carbon materials are critical components in all energy storage devices - lithium-ion
batteries, supercapacitors, flow batteries, and fuel cells. Currently these mainly derive from naturally
occurring materials with relatively poor control over the key properties (porosity, surface chemistry,
physical form). In this project we intend to build on a new technology for producing controlled
structure porous polymers from renewable cellulosic precursors via ionic liquid solution/precipitation.
These intermediates will then be converted to controlled structure carbons by adapting recently
developed routes for converting viscose rayon precusors. The route should be capable of producing
precisely controlled particle size distribution in the range 0.1 to 10 microns, a range critical for the
production of storage electrodes, along with precise control of the pore structure in the 1 to 50 nm
range. These products will be evaluated in the full range of strorage devices with end-users.
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