Chemical Engineering: Fully Funded Swansea University and U-Hire PHD Scholarship

The demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is expected to double by 2025 and quadruple by 2030 . As a consequence, global demands of critical materials used in LIBs, such as lithium is expected to grow at similar rates, leading to increased supply risk. This project is a collaboration between Welsh company U-Hire and The Future Manufacturing Energy Storge group in Swansea University. The project aims at reducing or eliminating the dependency of battery manufacturing on critical materials and utilising recycled materials feedstocks. The research focuses on "direct recycling", which enables the recovery, regeneration, and reuse of electrode materials without breaking the chemical structure. The process allows the economic recovery of more materials than existing technologies and has the lowest cost and environmental impact. The new technology offers the advantage of having a lower carbon footprint (low temperature and low energy processes) compared to current technologies and avoids most impact on virgin material production. We are looking for candidates to work in this novel and exciting research area. The project will mainly focus on developing new methodologies that allow (i) the liberation and separation of individual battery components and (ii) regeneration of liberated cathode via different chemical techniques, including solid-state and hydrothermal methods. This research tackles challenges that will contribute to the sustainability of the lithium-ion battery industry. The successful candidate will join the energy storage research team at the Faculty of Science and Engineering and work in the cutting-edge battery research lab at Swansea University, Bay Campus.