QUT offers a diverse range of student topics for Honours, Masters and PhD study. Search to find a topic that interests you or propose your own research topic to a prospective QUT supervisor. You may also ask a prospective supervisor to help you identify or refine a research topic.
Found 15 matching student topics
Displaying 1–12 of 15 results
Calendering lithium-ion battery electrodes: just roll with it
Calendering is the process of compressing and smoothing out a material by passing it between two rollers. This is a critical step of manufacturing thin films for energy storage and other applications, but one that can often be overlooked at a research level.This project will investigate the effect of calandering on electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries. The aim is to find the optimum amount calendaring for maximum film quality and performance.
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Chemistry and Physics
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
Centre for Clean Energy Technologies and Practices
Small, high efficiency, low cost appliance UPS
An existing household Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) constitutes a large investment which may require approval and certainly requires professional installation. In contrast, a consumer Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is relatively low cost and can be installed by the householder "in-line" with a computer. However, these low cost UPS are often not efficient, and are not designed for "cycling", and often only have sufficient back-up time to allow the safe shut down of the attached computer.An efficient, larger capacity UPS …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics
- Research centre(s)
-
Centre for Clean Energy Technologies and Practices
Green solvents to recover metals – mining and battery recycling industry
With the ever-increasing demand for batteries, the accelerated production will soon translate into massive amounts of waste. Establishing effective LIB recycling strategies will balance the impact of end-of-life LIB waste and the demands on raw materials in the battery supply chain. Due to high prices of raw materials, the global LIB recycling market was valued at about $1.78 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach $23.72 billion by 2030, suggesting a significant opportunity for the recovery of valuable metals …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Chemistry and Physics
Cyber-security aspects of battery storage systems
Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are a key energy storage component in various electrical and electronic systems such as mobile phones, electric vehicles and grid storage. A properly designed battery management system (BMS) is crucial to guarantee the safety, reliability, and optimal performance of the battery as well as to interconnect the battery systems with each other and external systems through communication channels. However, security threats of the Li-ion battery systems are often overlooked by BMS developers in the design phase. The …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics
- Research centre(s)
-
Centre for Clean Energy Technologies and Practices
Is battery storage overrated? Achieving grid equilibrium through digital energy services and analytics
The share of renewable energy in electricity generation has globally increased to 28.3%, however, an acceleration of the sustainable energy transition is required to limit worldwide temperature rise (REN21, 2022).Energy storage offers various benefits, such as balancing the mismatch between electricity supply and demand; however, due to its charge/discharge inefficiencies (energy storage results in a loss of at least 10% of electricity in the charge/discharge process), digital solutions are needed to manage grid equilibrium effectively (Watson et al., 2022).In this …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- School
- School of Information Systems
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
Ion-exchange membranes and electrodes for redox flow batteries
Grid-scale energy storage for intermittent renewables like solar and wind is an essential element of the transition away from fossil fuel based electricity production. Redox flow batteries have some very interesting characteristics for this stationary storage application:they are safer than other battery typesthe amount of energy stored can typically be scaled up easilythe power and energy of a system are more decoupled compared to lithium and other batteries, making them flexible in their design parameters.Ion exchange membrane and electrode are …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Chemistry and Physics
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
Safe and non-flammable electrolytes for batteries
Electrolytes play a significant role in determining the performance of energy storage devices. In general, different types of liquid electrolytes have been investigated so far including organic liquids, ionic liquids, and aqueous. Among them, organic liquid electrolytes are highly flammable and volatile, while aqueous electrolytes suffer from a narrow working voltage window. IL liquid showed a promise to circumvent these challenges, however, their practical applications are plagued by the high cost, difficulty in preparation, and toxicity.This project will develop low-cost …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Chemistry and Physics
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
Phosphate-based polyanionic cathode materials for (post) Li-ion batteries
Mixed polyanionic compounds have been studied extensively as viable cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries. Mixed phosphates Na4M3(PO4)2P2O7 (M = Mn2+, Fe2+, Co2+, Ni2+), provide a low barrier for Na-ion diffusion, being advantageous in comparison to phosphates and pyrophosphates. Despite being structurally similar, electrochemical performance differs for their analogues with different degrees of (de)sodiation, according to the transition element present. This project will develop series of mixed phosphates using novel rapid heating methods to achieve desired electrochemical properties.
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Chemistry and Physics
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
Anode-free Batteries
The lithium-metal battery (LMB) has been regarded as the most promising and viable future high-energy-density rechargeable battery technology due to the employment of the Li-metal anode. However, it suffers from poor energy density and safety, and improved battery design is sought. The anode-free full-cell architecture is constructed from a fully lithiated cathode with a bare anode Cu current collector. In such an anode-free lithium battery, both the gravimetric and volumetric energy densities can be extended to the maximum limit. Moreover, …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Chemistry and Physics
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
Tailoring novel separator for high performance aqueous zinc metal batteries
Developing sustainable and clean energy sources (e.g., solar, wind, and tide energy) is essential to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality. Due to the discontinuous and inconsistent nature of common clean energy sources, high-performance energy storage technologies are a critical part of achieving this target. Aqueous zinc metal batteries with inherent safety, low cost, and competitive performance are regarded as one of the promising candidates for grid-scale energy storage. However, zinc metal anodes with irreversible problems of dendrite growth, hydrogen …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- School
- School of Chemistry and Physics
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
Improved data analytics for lithium ion batteries
Join the team to be part of an exciting QUT-lead project into materials for Lithium-ion batteries. The project is part of the Federally supported Future Battery Industries - Cooperative Research Centre, which hosts projects all-over the country that are aiming to boost the industry, create clean energy jobs, and enable a sustainable future.In this role you gain access to QUT's one-of-a-kind in Australia, Advanced Battery Facility. At the facility we build lithium batteries in a range of shapes and sizes. …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Chemistry and Physics
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
Centre for Clean Energy Technologies and Practices
Metal-free batteries
Chemical batteries are listed in the top 5 key energy technologies; ahead of others such as natural gas, wind turbines, hydrogen and electric motors. Our group is currently investigating the use of free radical containing polymers as avenues to produce environmentally friendly, lightweight and durable materials for the fabrication of printed carbon batteries or as a electrolytes in flow batteries.
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Chemistry and Physics
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
Contact us
If you have questions about the best options for you, the application process, your research topic, finding a supervisor or anything else, get in touch with us today.