Master Thesis: "Development of an automated ultrasonic ink mixing station for PEM electrolyzers"
Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics or similar
Subject
Water electrolysis is the core technique towards a hydrogen-based energy market. Reducing the essential but precious catalyst material in short time is a main driver for automated high-throughput research. For the dispergation of catalyst particles in solvents, sonification is widely used. Not only agglomerates are broken up, but also homogeneous distributions of the particles and Nafion® as a binder are reached. Currently, this process is carried out by inserting the Sonotrode from top (Picture 1).
Because of the reported degradation of the Sonotrode and thus contamination of the catalyst ink, we want to aim for an indirect sonication process (Picture 2). Additionally, such a setup will make the cleaning process obsolete. The full setup will be part of an automated laboratory. This lab then will be used to carry out experiments autonomously and with high throughput.
Your profile
You are interested in the development and manufacturing of electrical and mechanical devices. You have profound knowledge in the area of CAD and manufacturing. You are motivated, team-minded, communicative, and are able to work independently. In an ideal case you are experienced in one or more of the following topics: microcontroller, actuators, optics, CAD, materials, Python coding
Your tasks
- Literature research on design options
- Thermal and functional dimensioning
- CAD-design of the setup
- Microcontroller programming
- Device integration
- Test and verification of the implemented setup
We offer
Outstanding working conditions in a young and interdisciplinary team with a lot of freedom for your own ideas. There is room for trying different solutions with our rapid manufacturing devices and a supportive workshop unit. Further information about our research unit for electrocatalytic interface engineering can be found here.
The start of your project is flexible.
