Postdoctoral position in analog embedded electronics and electrochemistry, for Reference Electrode signal conditioning inside a Li-ion battery cell.

In the new field of the Reference Electrode (RE) insertion inside the Li-ion cells, the PostDoc will focus on the pre-conditioning electronics necessary to preserve the internal charge and handle the output signal of the RE (buffering function, polarity and gain adjustment). More precisely, a new embedded analog system will be developed, tested and evaluated, completed by large test campaigns on cell prototyped samples, to prove the advantages of Li-ion battery cells with Reference Electrode in terms of robustness, durability and safety. You will plan and organise the work with increasing levels of complexity, especially the electronic design, PCB manufacturing (outsourced) and tests.

You will also support the institute by communicating effectively about your results, by writing papers and finding appropriate journals or conferences, showing autonomous and active initiative.

The overall result of the 2-year work is the introduction of the Li-ion cell, equipped with the Reference Electrode and the adapted electronics, into the future products of Li-ion cell industry.

For more details about the scientific subject, please visit: https://liten.cea.fr/cea-tech/liten/Documents/Postdoc-Carnot-EF/EDR_BUFFER.pdf

The work environment consists in a group of more than 20 electrochemical engineers and technicians, working on Li-ion cell scientific research, spanning from electrodes materials to post-mortem gas analysis. This team is completed by data scientists and electronics engineers. A large anhydrous room is available to build Li-ion cell prototypes, as well as to develop any related material. Standard electronics lab equipment is accessible and a well organised platform for cells cycling and abuse test is available.

You must be an expert in analog electronics and fine measurements, especially in an embedded environment. Organisational skills are essential to manage the project work and the test campaigns, which can last for weeks/months. In order to put the tests in place, you must be at ease with hand work and delicate electric and electronic connections. An effective approach to work planning is necessary, especially to interface other people’s work and external outsourcers. Data analysis basics (with Python or MatLab) is also demanded. General knowledge about embedded software programming may be required (but not compulsory).

• Your PhD in Electronics: analog electronics, embedded electronics, signal conditioning, fine measurements, test campaigns and data acquisition environments, data analysis, notions in electrochemistry.
• Key technical skills: analog electronic design, data analysis, embedded software programming (optional), large test campaign leading, at ease in writing papers and articles.
• Soft skills: organisational and planning capacity, great communication skills (both as a speaker, a writer and a listener!), autonomous, willing to learn in different technical fields, especially electrochemistry.

Position in GRENOBLE.