About the Project
The Energy Materials Group is pleased to offer a 3.5-year PhD studentship on the topic of all-solid-state lithium batteries. This studentship is funded by the University of Birmingham and is aligned with the FAIL-SAFE project, funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.
Lithium metal batteries could store over 25% more energy than today’s lithium-ion batteries, opening the way to longer-range electric vehicles and electric aircraft. However, they are held back by dendrites. These are tiny needle-like filaments of lithium that grow through the electrolyte during fast charging, short-circuit the battery and, in the worst cases, cause fires.
Composite electrolytes are a promising solution. They combine flexible, easy-to-manufacture polymers with tough ceramic particles, and early results suggest they resist dendrites better than polymers alone. Yet no one knows how dendrites actually grow through these two-phase materials: through the polymer, through the ceramic, or along the boundaries between them. Without this knowledge, progress relies on trial and error.
In this PhD, you will make composite electrolytes with different polymer-to-ceramic ratios. You will then watch dendrites grow inside working batteries using advanced imaging techniques, including SEM and X-ray CT. From these observations you will build a new understanding of how composites fail, and use it to design electrolytes that can be fast-charged safely and repeatedly.
The successful applicant will join the Energy Materials Group in the School of Metallurgy and Materials at the University of Birmingham; a large, diverse, and multi-disciplinary team of 30–40 researchers. We encourage motivated applicants of all backgrounds to apply, particularly those with first degrees in chemistry, materials science, physics, or an engineering discipline.
The funded studentship is only available for candidates that fulfil the requirements for home student fees. Please check if you are eligible here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/CBP-10708/.
Please apply through the website (https://admissions.bham.ac.uk/course-finder-landing-page/?code=EPS024) and email [contact details available in the full listing] with any enquiries.
Project supervisors
Dr Dominic Spencer-Jolly
Dominic Spencer-Jolly is an Assistant Professor with over 6 years of experience in next-generation battery research. They joined the University of Birmingham in 2023 after 10 years at the University of Oxford. They studied Chemistry at the University of Oxford from [contact details available in the full listing], completing a final year project on the synthesis of layered transition metal chalcogenides under the supervision of Prof. Simon Clarke. From [contact details available in the full listing], they pursued a DPhil in Materials under the supervision of Professor Sir Peter Bruce. During this time, they worked on the interface between metal anodes and solid electrolytes in solid-state batteries, and won a Doctoral Prize for their research. Following the completion of the DPhil, they remained in Professor Sir Peter Bruce’s research group, working as a Post-doctoral Research Assistant as part of The Faraday Institute’s SOLBAT project until their appointment at the University of Birmingham.
Dr. Spencer-Jolly's main research interests are in solid-state ionics for energy devices, with a particular focus on solid-state batteries. This work includes understanding the relationship between microstructure and performance, overcoming chemomechanical failures at electrode/electrolyte interfaces, and integrating new materials into electrochemical devices.
Research interests: Solid-State Batteries, Solid-State Ionics, Microstructure, Chemomechanical Failures, Electrode/Electrolyte Interfaces, Electrochemical Devices, Energy Devices, Metal Anodes, Solid Electrolytes.
