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Location

Saint Fons, Rhône | France

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Job description

Symbio is recruiting!

Let's take a leap into the near future... Here we are at SYMBIO, one of the major up-and-coming players in zero-emission mobility!

Our hyper-growth company designs Hydrogen Systems that can be integrated into several types of electric vehicles (vans, buses, trucks, boats).

Founded in 2010, Symbio is an equally-owned subsidiary of the Michelin and Faurecia groups. Our company's ambition is to grow in a competitive environment thanks to its employees. Indeed, management in our company is based on trust, openness and commitment!

Today, Symbio is inviting applications for a CIFRE thesis in collaboration with LRCS laboratory on the following topic: PEMFC degradation mechanisms modeling and experimental validation

The Laboratoire de Réactivité et Chimie des Solides -LRCS- is a joint research unit between Université de Picardie Jules Verne and CNRS (Unité Mixte de Recherche #7314). LRCS is located in the Hub de l'Energie in the city of Amiens, in the north of France. The Hub de l'Energie is the headquarters of the French Network on Electrochemical Energy Storage (RS2E).  Our laboratory carries out research on electrochemical energy storage and conversion, with a strong focus on rechargeable battery technologies, lithium ion, sodium ion and solid state batteries in particular. The laboratory has 20+ years expertise on multiscale physics-based and data-driven modeling (machine learning) applied to electrochemical energy devices.  The LRCS has approximately 140 researchers (including professors, permanent researchers, PhD students and postdoctoral researchers). LRCS is also member of the ALISTORE European Research Institute on batteries, and coordinates two international educational programs on energy storage and conversion (the Erasmus+ master program MESC+ and the PhD Marie Curie program DESTINY).

 

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) are emerging as a feasible zero-emission tank-to-wheel energy conversion technology for use in transport applications. Nevertheless, the reduction in production costs and the prolongation of service life are still major challenges. In order to develop high performance and durability stack, degradation mechanisms and their dependance on materials properties needs to be understood.

We aim to develop multi-scale models to describe and understand degradation mechanisms under steady-state and transient operations. The main objective is to analyse the interaction between degradation mechanisms and the impact on fuel cell performance. Moreover, materials properties impacts on theses mechanisms need to be studied in order to optimize cell components and design. Calibration and validation of degradation models will be performed using standard electrochemical characterization and post-mortem analyses.

Main steps:

• Bibliographic study.
• Development of a cell performance model including main degradation mechanisms in COMSOL:
  • Pt dissolution
  • Carbone corrosion
  • Membrane chemical and mechanical degradation
  • GDL degradation
• Validation of the model using standard electrochemical characterization and post-mortem analyses.
• Quantification of the impact of each degradation mechanisms under typical conditions in Symbio stack.
• Proposing guidelines for future MEA developpements

All our offers are open to people with disabilities (RQTH)

Do you recognize yourself in this ad? You like challenges and you need to feel involved in your missions... Then don't hesitate to apply!

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