Cutting-edge research to improve green hydrogen production
Vapour fed electrolysers can generate green hydrogen even from impure water sources. However, water vapour itself contains gaseous impurities. During this 3-year PhD, we will design and characterise mitigation strategies to prevent performance losses due to these impurities.
We will explore both experimental techniques as well as computational models to provide feedback for designing higher efficient electrolyser devices. However, we do not expect you to have prior knowledge of fabricating and running electrolysers or computational models. You will get the opportunity to learn from both the experienced supervisory team and other research group members at the Manchester Fuel Cell Innovation Centre. Additionally, you will work in parallel with another industrial partner-funded PhD project based on liquid water-fed systems.
The project will be jointly supervised by Dr Yagya Regmi and Prof Laurie King. This new project will be highly collaborative and interactive, and so you will have the opportunity to learn all of the required techniques from our highly supportive and skilled research group. The project will also provide you with many opportunities to work alongside our industrial and academic project partners. Our research group is housed within the state-of-the-art £117M Dalton building facilities at Manchester Met.
Project aims and objectives
The primary objective of the study is to study the effects of impurities on vapour fed water electrolysers, and the primary aim is to develop mitigation strategies to make the vapour fed electrolysers a commercially viable technology for niche applications. The outcomes of the PhD will be equally applicable to hydrogen production as well as to utilising carbon dioxide to generate valuable chemicals.
Funding
Home and international students can apply. Only home tuition fees will be covered for the duration of the three-year award, which is £5,006 for the year 2025/26. Eligible international students will need to make up the difference in tuition fee funding (Band 3 £30,500 for the year 2025/26).
The student will receive a standard stipend payment for the duration of the award. These payments are set at a level determined by the UKRI, currently £20,780 for the academic year 2025/26.
Specific requirements of the candidate
The qualifications, skills, knowledge and experience applicants should have for this project, in addition to our standard entry requirements.
Essential Skills:
- A background in chemistry, physics, materials science, engineering or related fields.
- Enthusiasm for multidisciplinary research and problem-solving.
- Highly motivated student.
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
Desirable Skills (but not essential, as training will be provided):
- Either an excellent undergraduate degree or an MSc/MRes in Chemistry.
- Experience in materials synthesis, computational modelling and/or electrochemistry.
- Familiarity with analytical techniques such as XRD or electrochemical methods.
- Research experience (e.g., undergraduate project, summer internship, or industrial placement).
For more information and to apply visit https://www.mmu.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research-study/phd/funding/scholarships#ai-135540-0
