PhD projects in collaboration with industry on battery manufacturing and modelling

We cordially invite applicants to apply for a fully funded PhD position based at the University of Surrey to collaborate with a rising battery company Addionics Ltd based in White City, London. 

This PhD project will investigate a novel battery manufacturing process using dry coating to save cost and eliminate the use of organic solvent, therefore providing a more sustainable solution to conventional wet processing for battery manufacturing. We already have a PhD student who started in September 2022 to focus on the experimental work on dry coating. We are now looking for a second PhD student to focus on computational modelling of the dry coating process and the fabricated electrodes, understanding 3D battery electrodes electrode microstructures and their impact on the battery performances. You are expected to be willing to work on computational modelling using existing software/simulation methods such as discrete element method, molecular dynamics simulations, COMSOL Multiphysics. You will have the opportunity to work with the existing PhD student to learn about battery manufacturing processes. You will also have opportunities to work with researchers and engineers at Addionics for your project and wider battery commercilisation. You will be supervised by Prof Qiong Cai (Prof Qiong Cai | University of Surrey)  Prof Charley Wu (Prof Charley Wu | University of Surrey) at the University of Surrey, and industry supervisors at Addionics Ltd.

About the University of Surrey

University of Surrey is a research intensive university. In the recent UK Research Excellence Framework 2021 evaluation, Surrey is ranked Top 20 for Research Outputs, and 15^th for Research Power in Engineering. Surrey is also a top 10 UK University in Employability and Student Satisfaction. The Sustainable Energy and Materials team at the University of Surrey has a strong background in the fabrication, modelling and application of advanced functional materials for energy conversion and storage applications including batteries (lithium-ion and alternatives to lithium-ion), fuel cells, hydrogen production, and CO₂ utilisation. We have strong expertise in multiscale modelling and process optimization using a wide range of modelling methods including density functional theory, molecular dynamics, discrete element method, lattice Boltzmann method, computational fluid dynamics, finite element method, etc. You will be integrated in a vibrant research environment with over 50 international PhD students.

About Addionics

Addionics is a rapidly growing and emerging company in the development of the next generation of battery electrode architecture that enables improved performance. They have been the recipient of numerous recognitions including the prestigious Bloomberg NEF award. You will help to apply modelling approaches to solve architectural constraints that limit modern batteries. Furthermore, you will be supported by a well-organized programme from the Doctoral College at the University of Surrey.

Please note that the PhD scholarship covers tuition fee and living stipend for UK home students and those who have permanent residence status in the UK. International students who wish to apply must pay the international fees by themselves.

Applicants must hold (or be close to completion of) a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree in any of the following disciplines:

• Chemical engineering
• Physics
• Mechanical engineering
• Energy engineering
• Civil/Environmental engineering
• Other related disciplines.