This four-year fully funded PhD project revolves around theoretical predictions for electrochemical reactions at interfaces between solid electrodes and aqueous electrolytes. These reactions are of importance in for instance hydrolysers, where electron transfer between the electrode and a (de-)hydrated ion occurs during redox reactions. ImageThis multiscale challenge involves the integration of statistical physics and chemical kinetics with transport theory, electrostatics and hydrodynamics. Theory development and numerical calculations in direct contact with computational and experimental groups are foreseen. This project addresses several aspects of the important but ill-understood coarse-graining methods that are required to bridge the atomic and the macroscopic scale.
This PhD-position at Utrecht University is not only embedded locally in the Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science (DINS) and the Institute for Theoretical Physics (ITP) but also nationally in the newly established Advanced Nano-electrochemistry Institute Of the Netherlands (ANION), which is funded by a "Zwaartekracht’’ project. ANION is a national consortium with nodes in Leiden, Amsterdam, Groningen, Twente, and Utrecht. It connects several academic research groups with state-of-the-art experimental, computational, and theoretical expertise on the chemistry and physics of electrochemical processes. This theoretical and computational project will be positioned in the ITP, however direct collaborations are foreseen locally within DINS and nationally within ANION.
The successful PhD-candidate is expected to have an MSc degree in (theoretical) physics, (theoretical) chemistry, or a closely related (computational, engineering) field. A background in soft-matter physics and physical chemistry as well as affinity with numerical methods and programming is advantageous. For further information, please contact Prof. R. van Roij at r.vanroij@uu.nl with subject line “ANION application”.
