Master Thesis (M2) or Engineer Internship on Corrosion protection of seawater electrolyzer components - 5 to 6 months F/H

Description de l'entreprise

The French Corrosion Institute is a non-profit SME that divides its activities between industrial R&D projects, consultancies and basic research with partners from both industry and academia. IC aims at excellence in research and has a well-established expertise in many industrial sectors including water electrolysis. In the context of an ongoing European seawater electrolysis project (SWEETHY), IC is looking for a motivated student for a duration of 5 to 6 months (starting ideally in the first quarter of 2027). Work location:  Technopôle of Brest, France.

Description du poste

Low-temperature water electrolysis is a key-technology of the energy transition that consists of electrochemically splitting the water molecule to produce hydrogen and oxygen. However, there are still many challenges to be tackled to make this technology durable and economically competitive. One of them is the protection against corrosion of the metallic components (bipolar plates, porous transport layers) in order to improve the durability of the technology, especially when using a seawater feed.

Your tasks:

- You synthesize coatings for bipolar plates and porous transport layers by using electrodeposition.

- You investigate the corrosion behavior of various metallic materials with and without protective coatings at different potentials, pH, salinities and temperature using electrochemical techniques such as linear sweep voltammetry, chronoamperometry and impedance spectroscopy.

- You characterize the coated and uncoated metals in pristine and post-mortem states with the in-house analytical tools (SEM, EDX, Raman spectroscopy, profilometry, …).

- You analyze the results that you regularly report to the electrolysis R&D leader. You participate in the progress meeting with the project partners You contribute to the writing of scientific articles for peer-review scientific journals.

Profil recherché

You are in the last year of your engineer/master studies in one of the following fields: electrochemistry, materials science, chemistry.

You have a theoretical knowledge and/or hands-on experience of electrochemistry and/or corrosion.

You have strong analytical skills and an interest in energy transition.

You are a team player and enjoy interacting with scientists of different backgrounds

You are able to work autonomously in the lab (after a learning phase) with a rigorous mindset (notably concerning safety).

A good command of English is compulsory for this position. Speaking French is a plus.

Avantages

• Titres Restaurant (100 € par mois)
• Semaine sur 4,5 jours (vendredi après midi off)
• Prise en charge de 50% du titre de transport en commun
• Prime de mobilité durable si déplacement en vélo de 20 € par mois

Réf: 23a2f5e5-a434-4493-a695-6667cb416435