Thermo BatS - Thermoelectric Battery Systems

Doctoral position in the Area of Thermoelectric Generators

In the livMatS ThermoBatS project, highly efficient, scalable and material-integrated micro-thermoelectric generators (μTEG) will be developed using a combination of polymer foil technology, inorganic nanoscale thermoelectric material and phase change material. This requires an efficient fabrication and/or synthesis procedure for the thermoelectric (TE) material, which will be developed, followed by combining the nanomaterials with different solvents and additives to form printable inks and dispersions for dispenser- or screen-printing. In a similar fashion, printing processes will be developed to add phase change materials (PCMs) as well as electrical contacts to the system. The whole system or parts of it will undergo thermal treatment e.g. uni-axial hot pressing or electro-sintering techniques to ensure optimal contact between individual TE nanoparticles for highest thermal-to-electrical conversion efficiencies. To finalize the project, the μTEG-PCM stacks will be combined with step-up, communication and sensor electronics to be able to supply information or energy to the outside world. The whole system will finally be housed or implemented into flexible sheets to enable a wide variety of possible applications.

The ThermoBatS project poses challenges in the fields of inorganic chemistry and microsystems engineering (including fabrication techniques), which have to be met by one candidate working mostly independently on the topic. Supervision and guidance will be provided by professors from the respective fields, but the applicant will be the link between the different areas. The candidate is therefore required to have a strong background in either chemistry, physics or micro systems engineering. In addition, he or she must have a strong interest in training him- or herself in the other two fields as necessary for the project. The candidate will work on his / her topic in a community lab space in close collaboration with other team members, with similar topics. Therefore, very good written and spoken English skills as well as communication skills and the ability to work in a team are required for this position. Spoken German skills would be preferred, but are not mandatory.

Applications are closed as of February 28^th 2019. We expect to fill this position by April 1^st 2019.The position will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Peter Woias and Prof. Dr. Harald Hillebrecht.