Rob graduated from the University of Bath in 2019 with an MChem Hons in Chemistry, which included a year in industry where he worked as a Future Mobility Intern for Shell Global Solutions. It was during this year in industry that he developed a deep interest in energy storage technologies for automotive applications, especially battery materials for electric vehicles. For his Masters project, which was supervised by Prof. Saiful Islam, he carried out a computational modelling study to investigate the atomic scale properties of a novel battery material. As an AAPS PhD student, he intends to carry out research in the area of structural battery technologies.
Work in Robs PhD will focus on both creation and development of new structural battery concepts and on the dual role of the supporting matrix. The matrix must both mechanically support the fibre, for which complete wetting of the fibre by the matrix is optimal, and allow ion migration, for which partial wetting of the fibre, in some battery constructions, is optimal as it allows liquid electrolyte to be in contact with the electrically conductive carbon fibre electrodes. The interface between the fibre and resin is subject to interface chemistry including sizing/functionalisation of the carbon fibres and processes which can control the wetting of the fibres by the matrix. Exploration of both will be key to this PhD studentship.
As a non-engineer the MRes year was an invaluable experience, I now have a wide range of technical subject matter knowledge and have developed a variety of new skills to prepare me for my PhD and what lies beyond
Rob Gray, Cohort 1
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