*This scholarship is part funded by the Welsh Government’s European Social Fund (ESF) convergence programme for West Wales and the Valleys.*
The project seeks to develop highly efficient hydrogen fuel cells based on graphene / metal nanoparticles / enzyme composites.
Currently, the only high energy output fuel cells manufactured consist of precious metals used at high solid content. This implies highly costing fuel cells. Perpetuus Carbon Technologies (PCT, the industrial partner of the proposed PhD project) is generating a catalogue for functionalised graphene materials in large quantities. PCT have identified a number of market driven needs for low cost metallised functional graphene materials for use in the automotive and medical sector.
The aim of the proposed research will include:
- the ability to generate a number of metallised graphene layers with high efficiency of coverage and batch to batch reproducibility
- the immobilisation and stabilisation of the biofuel enzymes cellobiose dehydrogenase and laccase
- the fabrication of highly reproducible devices delivering optimal active electrode surface and thickness for optimal enhanced performances.
The successful PhD student will be trained in:
- surface characterisation techniques such as XPS, SEM, FTIR and particle sizing techniques for further incorporation of the particles into screen printing ink
- electrochemical characterisation techniques in order to evaluate a fully working fuel cell.