Overview

Formation is one of the most important, costly and least understood stages in lithium-ion battery manufacturing. During formation, cells are first charged and discharged to establish protective interphase layers on electrode surfaces, commonly referred to as the solid electrolyte interphase, SEI, at the anode and cathode electrolyte interphase, CEI, at the cathode. These layers strongly influence lifetime, safety, fast-charging capability and early capacity loss.

Despite its industrial importance, formation remains difficult to predict and optimise. Its success depends on coupled processes occurring across length and time scales, including electrolyte wetting of porous electrodes and separators, gas generation during electrolyte decomposition, electrolyte displacement by gas bubbles, and the growth, porosity, composition and transport properties of SEI/CEI layers. These processes are often studied separately, which limits our ability to design reliable, faster and more energy-efficient formation protocols.

This project will address this gap by developing a predictive, experimentally validated, multi-scale modelling framework for battery interphase formation. The work will combine first-principles calculations, machine-learned interatomic potentials, molecular dynamics, kinetic Monte Carlo modelling and comparison with experimental data from the Faraday Institution FAST programme.

Faraday Institution PhD students benefit from development opportunities including networking events, industry visits, mentorship, internships and high-quality training to further their skills and career aspirations.

Award summary

100% home tuition fees covered and a minimum tax-free annual living allowance of £20,780 (2025/26 UKRI rate), as well as £2,000 per year to support training and consumables and access to a bespoke Faraday Institution PhD Training Programme valued at ~£5,000 per year.

Eligibility criteria

You must have, or expect to gain, a minimum 2:1 Honours degree or international equivalent in a subject relevant to the proposed PhD project, including chemistry, materials science, engineering or physics.

Applicants whose first language is not English require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in all sub-skills.

The studentship covers fees at the Home rate (UK and EU applicants with pre-settled/settled status and meet the residency criteria).

We welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates and particularly encourage applications from groups that are under-represented in physical sciences, engineering and battery research.

How to apply

To apply, applicants must complete both of the following steps:

• Submit a short Faraday Institution expression of interest form (select Project 12).
• Apply through the university application process.

Informal queries: bora.karasulu@warwick.ac.uk