Ph D Thesis Proposal – Reincorportation of materials from recycled batteries

Mecaware is an innovative industrial startup that produces strategic metals from end-of-life batteries and battery manufacturing scrap from gigafactories.

Our innovative technology supports competitive, responsible, environmentally-friendly battery recycling, making us a key player in Europe's growing low-carbon battery industry.

Our people are united by a common cause: to transform the battery industry and make the circular economy a reality.

If helping build a more sustainable and responsible battery industry in Europe sounds exciting to you, Mecaware could be the right next step in your career!

All nationalities are welcomed, click here so see our french version of this job offer: Offre d'emploi - CIFRE – Thèse – Réincorporation des matériaux issus de batteries recyclées - Mecaware

This thesis is part of a partnership with the Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux (ICMCB), whose research focuses on the controlled synthesis and detailed characterisation of electrode materials, as well as the study and analysis of mechanisms likely to be involved in the operation of storage systems, particularly Li-ion batteries.

This collaboration will provide a better understanding of the challenges involved in reincorporating materials from recycled batteries into the manufacture of cathode materials, while aiming for a quality equivalent to that of commercial materials.

Your main responsibilities:

• Analyse the impact of the physicochemical properties of the solids produced by our R&D teams (morphology, crystallinity, particle size distribution, purity, etc.) on the morphology and electrochemical performance of the CAMs obtained (cycling behaviour, durability, etc.);

• Establish correlations between the structural characterisation of the salts produced by our process and the electrochemical properties of the CAMs synthesised from these salts;

• Explore different parameters (solid purification pretreatments, hydro-solvothermal treatments, heat treatments, reincorporation rates, etc.) to optimise the electrochemical performance of the CAMs developed.

You will be based at the ICMCB laboratory at the University of Bordeaux, under the supervision of Dr Jacob Olchowka and Dr Gilles Philippot (80% of the time).

You will work in collaboration with the teams at MecaLab, our R&D laboratory in Lyon, under the supervision of Dr Maxime Ducreux (20% of the time).

Please note that thesis work may be valorized in the form of patents and/or publications, and presented at conferences.

You are currently in your second year of a Master's degree or third year of engineering school and wish to pursue a PhD.

You have a background in materials science and/or electrochemistry.

You are known for your intellectual curiosity, your appetite for experimental laboratory work, your independence, your adaptability and your communication skills.

If this sounds like you, then you know what to do!

We look forward to receiving your application.