PhD Project by Chloé Chemin

Project Title: Nanocharacterization of pyrolytic carbon materials for electrochemical energy storage
Group: Atomic-Scale Materials Dynamics
Supervisor: Thomas Willum Hansen
 
Project description
In the field of electrical energy storage (EES), high performance, small-scale energy storage materials are in increasing demand. Pyrolytic carbon (PyrC) has emerged as a promising material for the design of such EES. Indeed, in recent years, the development of three-dimensional (3D) permeable architectures, made of PyrC, loaded with active pseudo-capacitive nanomaterials proved to offer hybrid supercapacitor (SC) materials with higher energy density. These SCs are thus particularly interesting for EES.

To design tailorable 3D hybrid SC electrodes for energy storage with the most promising electrical properties further studies are necessary. Indeed, the microstructure of pyrolytic electrodes is directly related to its performance. Therefore, it is of great importance to better understand and control the pore formation during pyrolysis to understand which leads to the best performance and how to adjust the parameters accordingly.

This project connects the activities of the Biomaterial Microsystems (BioMic) and the Atomic-Scale Materials Dynamics (ATLAS) groups at DTU Nanolab by developing advanced electron microscopy methods for structural and chemical characterization of pyrolytic carbon materials within 3D carbon microelectrodes. The BioMic group investigates novel approaches for fabrication of 3D carbon microelectrodes with highly tailored material properties, large surface area and hierarchical architecture using pyrolysis. The ATLAS group develops routines for investigating structural changes in materials by means of in situ electron microscopy and automated data analysis via machine learning.