About the Project
A fully funded PhD opportunity to participate in the world-leading research undertaken by the EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award at the University of Sheffield.
Supervised by Dr Jennifer Johnstone-Hack and Prof Rachel Smith.
The University of Sheffield is one of the leading Russell Group universities in the UK. We carry out cutting-edge research with strong links to industry. When you enrol to do a PhD with us, you will be working with world-leading academics and have access to top of the range facilities. As a PhD student you will have the opportunity to gain skills not only to conduct research, but also to take your career to the next level, whether you want to stay in academia, go into industry or the public sector, or set up your own company. You will have access to a range of training and support services to help you excel in your studies and beyond.
Project Description
Are you passionate about tackling climate challenges, and decarbonising the UK? If so, you may be interested in this project.
The demand for hydrogen is set to rapidly accelerate in the coming decades as the need to decarbonise and tackle climate change becomes ever more urgent. Electrolysers are the key technology for enabling green hydrogen production from renewables, but they are hampered by high costs.
In this project, you will tackle one of the most expensive components of the electrolyser - the catalyst coated membrane (CCM) - and aim to reduce and/or replace the expensive iridium catalyst with lower-cost alternatives. To do this, you will develop and explore novel ink formulations that contain lower catalyst loadings or contain cheaper alternatives, such as ruthenium. If we can reduce the amount of iridium used in the CCM, we can begin to reduce the cost of electrolyser technologies, which will in turn enable scale-up and roll out of these crucial devices.
Through this project, you will gain a broad range of experimental and technical skills, including manufacture of inks and electrodes, advanced performance testing and multi-scale characterisation methods. You will work in a highly interdisciplinary environment across multiple labs within the School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering at the University of Sheffield, including the electrolyser lab, ink and particle manufacturing facilities and a suite of characterisation facilities (including X-ray CT, SEM/EDX, XRF) within the Royce Discovery Centre. You will also conduct advanced operando experiments on both the ink formulations and the operating electrolysers through applications to use national synchrotron facilities, including the Diamond Light Source (UK) or ESRF (France).
This PhD project will equip you with a wide range of skills for your personal development, with opportunities to present your work at national and international conferences. There are also opportunities to get involved in a activities alongside your daily lab-based work, including the School’s PhD Society GRAND, and through Outreach and Public Engagement work.
You will be supervised by Dr Jennifer Johnstone-Hack and Professor Rachel Smith, and will benefit from the expertise, lab facilities, technical support and mentorship from the supervisory team. We are committed to creating an inclusive, positive research culture within our research groups, and we fully support and encourage candidates from traditionally underrepresented STEM backgrounds to apply. The project will combine aspects of Materials Science and Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, and would be well suited to a candidate from any STEM background with a keen interest in solving real-world challenges within the energy research field.
How to apply
Interested candidates are strongly encouraged to contact the project supervisors to discuss your interest in and suitability for the project prior to submitting your application.
Please refer to the EPSRC DLA webpage for detailed information about the EPSRC DLA and how to apply. Applicants must ensure that they use the correct application form linked to the EPSRC DLA webpage and must submit an application for October 2027 entry. The form is unique to the EPSRC DLA. It contains the list of advertised projects from which to select, and three questions specific to the DLA.
The application deadline is 17:00 GMT 13 January 2027.
The majority of our DLA studentships will be allocated to candidates who qualify for Home fee status, in accordance with EPSRC funding regulations which place strict limits on international recruitment.
Funding Notes
The award will fund the full tuition fee and a maintenance stipend at the UKRI rate (currently £21,805 per annum) for 3.5 years, as well as a research grant to support costs associated with the project.
