Offer description
Information about the internship
- Field / Topic: Condensed matter physics/ photoelectrochemistry
- Research Unit: SPEC/LNO
- Internship place: CEA Saclay
- Internship duration: 6 months
- Level of study: Bachelor + 5 years
- Training: Master 2 / Engineer
- Continuation in PhD thesis: YES
- Application deadline: 01/02/2026
Internship description
Subject
Description:
Mechanisms underlying the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at the photoanode/electrolyte interface remain poorly understood. This lack of clarity hinders the critical knowledge leap required for efficient water splitting and the production of clean hydrogen. Advanced operando spectromicroscopy approaches — such as Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscopy (STXM) and ptychography — provide a key opportunity to elucidate the role of each relevant parameter (morphology, structure, chemical coordination, etc.) at the nanoscale and during the photoelectrochemical reaction.
This internship is part of a project aimed at exploiting operando methods recently implemented at the STXM instrument (HERMES beamline, SOLEIL synchrotron), within the framework of the ANR OERKOP grant. Homemade micro-photoelectrochemical cells, compatible with the commercial Protochips cell holder, will be used. These cells enable photoanode materials to be grown directly on glassy carbon working electrodes using well-established chemical deposition methods developed in our group¹⁻³. Existing operando spectromicroscopy methods will be complemented by the development of a time-resolved scheme in the millisecond/second range to track transitory reversible effects during the OER.
Missions:
The intern will work at the HERMES beamline (SOLEIL synchrotron) in close collaboration with a post-doctoral researcher and a PhD student. He/she will actively participate in running operando STXM electrochemical experiments. He/she will develop several skills in:
- Sample synthesis using established methods (aqueous chemical growth, hydrothermal mineralization, dip coating).
- Material characterization (X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, UV-vis absorption, SEM).
- Photoelectrochemical characterization (linear sweep voltammetry, cyclic voltammetry).
- Spectromicroscopy using the STXM instrument at the HERMES beamline.
The intern will have access to state-of-the-art instruments and cutting-edge methods (operando, ptychography) developed recently.
This internship may lead to a PhD thesis, subject to funding from EDPIF doctoral school at Paris-Saclay University.
[1] S. Stanescu et al., ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces., 15, 26593 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c02131
[2] S. Stanescu et al., J. Electron Spectrosc. Relat. Phenom., 265, 147334 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elspec.2023.147334
[3] D. Stanescu et al., Journal of Materials Chemistry A., 8, 20513 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1039/d0ta06524b
Related URLs: https://iramis.cea.fr/reaction-de-production-de-di-oxygene-la-cle-pour-optimiser-loxydation-photocatalytique-de-leau/
Keywords
solar water splitting, hematite photoanode, X-rays spectromicroscopy, operando
Candidate profile
Scientific skills: material science, condensed matter, photoelectrochemistry
Software / calculations : office, python for data treatement and spectra fit
Languages : English, French