Posting Title

Postdoctoral Research Position: Battery Fabrication, Characterization, and Testing

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Location

CO - Golden

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Position Type

Postdoc (Fixed Term)

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Hours Per Week

40

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Working at NREL

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Golden, Colorado is the nation's primary laboratory for research and development of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.

From day one at NREL, you’ll connect with coworkers driven by the same mission to save the planet. By joining an organization that values a supportive, inclusive, and flexible work environment, you’ll have the opportunity to engage through our ten employee resource groups, numerous employee-driven clubs, and learning and professional development classes.

NREL supports inclusive, diverse, and unbiased hiring practices that promote creativity and innovation. By collaborating with organizations that focus on diverse talent pools, reaching out to underrepresented demographics, and providing an inclusive application and interview process, our Talent Acquisition team aims to hear all voices equally. We strive to attract a highly diverse workforce and create a culture where every employee feels welcomed and respected and they can be their authentic selves.

Our planet needs us! Learn about NREL’s critical objectives, and see how NREL is focused on saving the planet.

Note: Research suggests that potential job seekers may self-select out of opportunities if they don't meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage anyone who is interested in this opportunity to apply. We seek dedicated people who believe they have the skills and ambition to succeed at NREL to apply for this role.

Job Description

NREL's Energy Conversion and Storage Systems Center has an immediate opening for a postdoctoral researcher. The selected candidate will be responsible for performing materials development and electrochemical testing for long-duration energy storage, solid-state battery, and/or lithium-sulfur battery research programs (https://www.nrel.gov/storage/electrochemical-energy-storage.html).

The selected candidate will fabricate composite electrodes including sulfur cathodes (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/1945-7111/ac4541/meta ), assemble half- and full-cell batteries, and test their electrochemical performance against different types of battery chemistries. The candidate will also utilize post-mortem analysis of the cells and in-situ Raman spectroscopy and other spectroscopic or characterization tools to explore fundamental mechanisms of electrolyte-electrode interactions and their effects on electrochemical performance. 

Job duties include, but not limited to:

• Slurry casting of li-ion battery electrodes

• Fabrication of full- and half-cell coin cells

• Electrochemical testing of li-ion batteries using potentiostats, battery cyclers, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

• Using in-situ cells that enable spectroscopic characterization during electrochemical testing (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/1945-7111/ac1d7a/meta ).

• Perform and/or interpret general microscopic and spectroscopic characterizations such as SEM, EDS, XRD, XPS, CT, etc.

• Analyze characterization and electrochemical data (https://chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/batt.202300186 ).

• Develop and refine hypotheses by carrying out research plans and interpreting results