About the project
This PhD studentship is an opportunity to work on an interdisciplinary project between the School of Chemistry, Diamond Light Source and ISIS Neutron and Muon Source.
Thermoelectrics (TEs) are an important class of materials that can directly convert thermal waste heat into useful electrical energy. They have potential to contribute to the sustainability agenda and the net zero carbon economy. The potential for TE materials in sustainable waste-heat-recovery systems is huge. Around 90 per cent of the world’s power is generated by heat engines that operate at 30 to 40 per cent efficiency. The remainder is lost to the environment as heat.
Despite this there are barriers to widespread adoption because of the low efficiency of current materials. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of crystalline high surface-area microporous solids assembled from metal ions or clusters and polytopic organic ligands. They are excellent candidates for new TE materials as they have relatively low thermal conductivity and tuneable electrical conductivity.
In this project you’ll investigate the effects of molecular doping, composition and topology on multiple length scales in conducting metal organic frameworks (MOFs) as candidates for thermoelectric applications.
Their modular nature allows framework composition, functionality and pore size to be optimised. This is important for applications in energy and sustainability. We have succeeded in preparing conducting MOFs with unprecedented thermoelectric performance. A switch in conductivity from n-to p-type was seen. The exact mechanism of doping or identification of which species is exactly responsible for the observed doping is unknown.
To unravel this mechanism we propose to use a combination of characterisation techniques (XAS/XES and inelastic neutron scattering (INS)) that will allow us carry out detailed operando gas adsorption studies whilst also measuring the thermoelectric properties.
Diamond Light Source is one of the most advanced scientific facilities in the world. Its pioneering capabilities help keep the UK at the forefront of scientific research. ISIS Neutron and Muon Source is a world-leading centre for research in the physical and life sciences at the Science and Technology Facilities Council's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford in the United Kingdom. Our suite of neutron and muon instruments gives unique insights into the properties of materials on the atomic scale. Our goal is to deliver economic, societal, scientific and international benefits to the UK and its people – and more broadly to the world.
