Materials Research Scientist IV - Materials Discovery Research Institute

Job Description

We have an exciting opportunity for a Materials Research Scientist IV at UL Research Institutes Material Discovery Research Institute (MDRI) in our Skokie, IL facilities.

The Materials Research Scientist will play a pivotal role in accelerating the discovery and synthesis of innovative materials for renewable energy conversion and storage that extend beyond lithium-ion technologies. This objective will be achieved through the application of high-throughput experimental methodologies, computational design, and the MDRI’s automated LIMS system. The Materials Scientist will be responsible for defining, developing, and validating new materials for critical components of renewable energy systems, with the intent of enhancing performance, reducing costs, and increasing operational lifespan.

The Materials Scientist will characterize materials and elucidate the relationship between their structures and their physical and chemical properties, focusing on active metals, novel alloys, polymers, and conductive porous materials. The Materials Scientist will conduct experiments to evaluate the electrochemical performance of these materials and will perform root-cause analyses to address material failure mechanisms.

Furthermore, the Materials Scientist will apply their expertise to discover new materials, develop advanced synthesis methods, and innovate characterization techniques across various domains of renewable energy conversion and storage. This includes, but is not limited to, water and CO2 electrolyzers, flow batteries, fuel cells, solid-state batteries, hydrogen storage, electroplating, and sensors. These efforts are intended to advance research and innovation within the institute.

Materials Discovery Research Institute:

The Materials Discovery Research Institute (MDRI) works to develop and deploy new materials with the potential to address current global safety challenges. Pursuing materials that will help produce transformational safety breakthroughs, MDRI harnesses the power of advanced computing and high-throughput experimental methods to create innovative materials that will produce resilience for a sustainable future and protect individual and societal health.

We focus on today’s critical challenges, working to create new and better materials that will support renewable energy and environmental sustainability. Among our top priorities is research into materials capable of carbon capture and energy storage, with an eye toward reducing the adverse impacts of humanity’s reliance upon fossil fuel resources and enabling a transition to renewable energy sources.

Above all, our research builds on our commitment to a safer, more sustainable future.

UL Research Institutes:

At UL Research Institutes, we expand the boundaries of safety science to create a more secure and sustainable world. For more than a century, we have studied the unintended consequences of innovation, designed solutions to mitigate risk and shared our findings with academia, scientists, manufacturers, and policymakers across industries. We identify critical safety and sustainability issues, asking the tough questions because we believe a safer world begins with knowledge.

Build a safer, more secure, and sustainable future with us. Join us and work with our Office of Partnership team who facilitates the research required to produce that knowledge and put into practice.

Through all of our programs, we aim to unlock the diverse perspectives that are essential for solving the world’s most pressing safety and sustainability issues.

What you’ll learn and achieve:

As the Material Scientist, you will play a key role in the rapid growth of UL as you:

• Conduct research and innovate new materials for renewable energy conversion and storage systems through high-throughput experimentation and computational design. This includes the investigation of active metals, novel alloys, polymers, and conductive porous materials.

• Engage in comprehensive studies on the structure-property relationships of new materials, with a focus on critical components within renewable energy systems. This encompasses the development of new electrocatalysts for both cathode and anode applications, as well as separators, coatings, bipolar plates, and electrolytes.

• Design and implement novel protocols for material synthesis, and adapt procedures, methods, or instrumentation as necessary throughout the research process.

• Lead small research teams in the fabrication, characterization, and testing of electrochemical systems that incorporate new materials, including but not limited to water and CO2 electrolyzers, fuel cells, flow batteries, and solid-state ba