Topic description

Context: Li-ion batteries have seen tremendous success in recent years, yet the quest for batteries with even higher energy density, longer lifetime, and more sustainable materials continues. Achieving these advances requires atomic-level insights into the operation mechanisms of a battery during charge and discharge, obtained from measurements. NMR spectroscopy has emerged as a powerful technique for such investigations, but it remains limited by low sensitivity and a lack of selectivity for different parts of the electrochemical cell.

Goal: The goal of this PhD project is to advance operando NMR measurements of batteries in two complementary ways: increasing the experimental sensitivity through the implementation of new cell designs, and targeting selected parts of the battery using advanced NMR pulse sequences. These developments will be applied to pertinent questions in both Li-ion and Na-ion batteries, investigating fo...