Postdoc Chemist: Polymer & Inorganic Sodium-Ion Batteries

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Berkeley (CA); On-site; USD 84,000 - 98,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive health benefits

Retirement savings options

Paid time off

Postdoc Association network

Job summary

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, CA, seeks a Chemist Postdoctoral Scholar to advance polymer-based binders, conductive coatings, and inorganic electrode materials for sustainable sodium-ion batteries. You will design polymers, fabricate electrodes, and evaluate performance while exploring structure–property–recoverability relationships.

Applicants should have hands-on polymer and inorganic materials synthesis, processing, and electrochemical testing experience; collaboration

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in polymer chemistry, organic chemistry, or closely related field with hands-on polymer synthesis and materials chemistry experience.
• Experience in polymer synthesis, functionalization, and characterization with ability to design polymers for targeted properties.
• Ability to purify materials and verify purity with analytical techniques.
• Experience in inorganic battery electrode materials synthesis and processing, including cathodes and solid-state synthesis.
• Experience in fabricating and evaluating composite battery electrodes and electrochemical testing.

Responsibilities

• Design and synthesize functional polymers for reversible battery binders and conductive coatings.
• Synthesize, process, and characterize inorganic electrode materials for sodium-ion batteries.
• Optimize formulations and electrode fabrication to control composition, structure, and interfaces.
• Develop reversible electrode architectures and material-recovery strategies, including debonding and separation.
• Perform electrochemical testing and evaluate battery performance.
• Characterize polymers, electrodes, and interfaces with NMR, FTIR, GPC, DSC/TGA, XRD, SEM.
• Analyze data to relate structure to performance and recoverability.
• Independently design experiments and troubleshoot challenges; collaborate across disciplines.
• Prepare manuscripts, reports, presentations, and proposals; communicate findings to collaborators.

Skills

Polymer synthesis

Inorganic materials synthesis

Electrochemical testing

NMR

FTIR

GPC

XRD

SEM

Education

Ph.D. in polymer chemistry, organic chemistry, materials science, chemical engineering

Tools

NMR

FTIR

GPC

DSC/TGA

XRD

SEM

Job description

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, CA, seeks a Chemist Postdoctoral Scholar to advance polymer-based binders, conductive coatings, and inorganic electrode materials for sustainable sodium-ion batteries. You will design polymers, fabricate electrodes, and evaluate performance while exploring structure–property–recoverability relationships.

Applicants should have hands-on polymer and inorganic materials synthesis, processing, and electrochemical testing experience; collaboration