The National Institute of Coal (INCAR-CSIC), on behalf the Spanish Carbon Group, has the pleasure of inviting you to the International Conference on Coal Science and Technology 2011, in the city of Oviedo, Spain, October 9-13, 2011. This series of conferences is held bi-annually by different host countries around the world.

Más información en: http://www.iccst.info/live/index.php

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Poposition of Post-Doctoral position in Centre de Recherche sur la Matière Divisée (CRMD), Orléans, France

Project Sup’Caplipe : Supercapacitors with protic ionic liquid electrolyte

Nowadays, improving the energy efficiency of systems is an important objective for reducing fossil fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Electrochemical energy storage systems are able to take an important part in this strategy, allowing lost energy to be recovered and further delivered on demand. Two types of electrochemical energy storage devices are available: accumulators and electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs). Accumulators have a high energy density but a low power density, whereas EDLCs are able to deliver a high power, but their energy density is relatively low.

The main objective of the Sup’Caplipe project is to develop a new type of supercapacitor of high energy density for hybrid vehicles, stationary applications and energy management. The proposed system will include protic ionic liquid electrolytes (PILs) and new electrode materials. By an appropriate choice of PILs it is expected to enhance the voltage of systems and consequently their energy density. Moreover, due to the specificities of PILs, it will be possible to extend the operating temperature range, leading to broadening the possible applications. Compared to the organic electrolytes presently used in industrial systems, PILs will offer the advantage of being environment friendly, non-flammable and consequently very safe.

The Sup’Caplipe multidisciplinary project involves 2 academic partners and the CEA as end-user. One important task of the project will be to select electrode materials and electrolytes which allow high power density and cycle life to be withstood for fulfilling the requirements imposed by the end-user involved in the project. Two kinds of cells will be developed: i) laboratory-type coffee-bag cells which will allow the optimized components (electrode materials, electrolyte, separator) to be implemented in a system mimicking the industrial ones; ii) small industrial demonstration cells allowing the real performance of this new type of device to be established.

In the Sup’Caplipe project, the Post-Doctoral fellow will optimise and transform carbon nanomaterials. Various physico-chemical methods will be used for characterizing the structure and nanotexture of carbons. A very careful electrochemical characterization of the materials will be necessary. These materials will be implemented in laboratory test supercapacitors (coffee-bag cells). Various electrochemical techniques will be used for the performance estimation. The electrochemical results will be compared with the physico-chemical characteristics in order to define optimization strategies. The optimised materials will be further implemented in supercapacitor prototypes.

This 24 months work programme is recommended for a candidate specialized in materials science and electrochemistry. The multi-disciplinary approach of this work will allow the fellow to develop various competencies as well in fundamental science and in industrial applications.

Contacts : Professor François Béguin Tel : ++33 238255375 ; mail : beguin@cnrs-orleans.fr Doctor Encarnacion Raymundo-Piñero, Tel : ++33 238255361 ; mail : raymundo@cnrs-orleans.fr

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UTZ-Hellmuth Felch Award

El Grupo Alemán del Carbón convocará bianualmente los premios "UTZ-Hellmuth Felch Award" en el campo de los materiales de carbón y cerámicos. El premio está dotado con 20.000 €.

Más información

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Se ofrece la posibilidad de beca para la realización de Tesis Doctoral entre la Universidad de Liege (Bélgica) y INPG de Grenoble (Francia) en geles de carbono para electrocatálisis.

También existe la posibilidad de una estancia postdoctoral en temas relacionados con geles de carbono. Fecha límite 15 Mayo 2010.

Interesados contactar con:

 Dra. Nathalie Job

Chargé de Recherches FNRS

University of Liège

Department of Chemical Engineering

Institut de Chimie B6a, Sart-Tilman

B-4000 Liège

Belgium

E-mail: nathalie.job@ulg.ac.be

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