This work will be performed at the FMolina-Lopez group, within the “Surface and Interface Engineered Materials” unit at the Department of Materials Engineering of KU Leuven.
Website unit
Project
Thermoelectric (TE) materials can convert waste heat into electrical energy and vice versa; they use electricity to provide active heating/cooling. However, the current fabrication process of TEs is complicated and expensive. Also, current TEs are small and rigid. Finding a way to integrate performing TE materials on flexible devices will open new ways to harvest waste heat from many scenarios, such as the human skin, and replace high-consuming AC devices by enabling thermo-regulating clothing.
This project hypothesizes that metal-chalcogenides processed by laser printing on flexible substrate can perform as flexible TE harvesters and coolers for integration into clothing and other wearables.
In this project, the PhD candidate is expected to:
• Produce TE powder alloys, formulate printable slurries/pastes, and develop a sintering and patterning process on a flexible substrate based on selective laser exposure.
• Familiarize him/herself with the concepts of mobility, charge carrier concentration, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity, and with the different methods to measure these properties. He/she will be required to master the use of commercial tools to measure these properties and, in some cases, to develop specialized setups.
• Learn TE device design and merits for both energy harvesting and cooling.
• Characterize the morphology and elemental composition of the produced powders and films: SEM/EDS, TEM, XRD, ICP-OES, EBSD, etc.
• Correlate material morphology and composition with final TE material and device performance.
Profile
- Degree: Master degree in one of the following fields (or similar): Materials Science and Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, or Applied Physics.
- Research experience: Master thesis work and/or experience in materials process, material characterization, electrical instrumentation, or microfabrication.
- Interests and research profile: The research topic is 80% experimental and 20% theoretical, and it bridges the fields of physics, materials sciences, electrical, and chemical engineering. Hence, the applicants are required to have an excellent proven background in engineering sciences, with good knowledge of fundamental concepts, and a strong hands-on attitude toward interdisciplinary experimental research. In particular, the candidates must:
• Enjoy lab work and be keen on inorganic material characterization, with emphasis on electronic materials.
• Show a strong interest in the link between experiments and fundamental concepts.
• Be willing to work in close collaboration with the rest of the team and with other departments at KU Leuven (Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Physics…).
- Communication skills: Ability to work both independently and in a team, direct communication style. Fluency in spoken and written English is mandatory! Minimum required: IELTS of 7 (no subscore below 6.5) or TOEFL of 94 (no subscore below 22).
- Attitude: Only highly motivated and hard-working candidates willing to work in a fast-paced and dynamic environment will be considered.
Offer
The project covers competitive salary, medical care, lab and conference expenses for a 4-year program towards the completion of a PhD degree at the Department of Materials Engineering of KU Leuven.
KU Leuven is one of the top 50 universities in the world (top 7 in Engineering in the European Union and top 12 in Europe) according to the Times Higher Education ranking 2025. It offers an exciting multi-disciplinary research environment and a broad range of training courses for PhD students.
Located in Belgium, at the heart of Europe, and less than 3 hours by train from cities like Paris, London, or Amsterdam, Leuven is a cultural and historical city with a vibrant international student lifestyle.
Interested?
For more information, please check our group website: https://www.molina-lopezresearchlab.com/
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