Applications are invited for a fully-funded PhD studentship to work on 'Anisotropic nanostructured materials based on graphene and 2D materials' for thermal management in next generation electronic circuits.
Description: Faster and smaller electronic devices require the miniaturisation of several electronic components distributed on chips with ever-growing capacity. The heat generated by electronic devices increases exponentially. Anisotropic thermally conductive materials able to dissipate
heat in one or two in-plane spatial directions while barring the conductivity on the out-of-plane direction are ideal materials to dissipate heat effectively, without affecting the surrounding devices. The current materials employed for thermal dissipation suffer from intrinsic physical limitations.
Along with graphene a whole new family of two-dimensional (2D) materials has
recently emerged with extraordinary electrical, thermal, optical and mechanical properties. Some of these materials (e.g. graphene or hexagonal Boron Nitride, h-BN) have shown excellent thermal conductivity with orders of magnitude improvement and have the ideal set of properties to pave the way to a next generation thermally conductive materials. This project aims to
engineer new polymer composites embedding graphene and/or hybrid two-dimensional materials (such as h-BN) and explore their use as highly electrically, thermally conductive pastes and composites for integrated electronic circuits. Polymer composites and pastes will be investigated and tailored for extrusion, injection moulding and 3D printing.
The ultimate goal is to achieve a new family of electrically insulating and thermally conducting pastes and polymer composites with highly anisotropic properties that can be deposited by the most modern deposition technologies, including 3D printing.
The project will involve a strong collaboration with the industrial partner Cambridge Nanosystems Ltd on the design of tailored graphene and 2D materials for incorporation into polymer composites and pastes. The student will be fully incorporated into the Cambridge Graphene Centre offering unique opportunity to interact with teams of researchers working with graphene, 2D materials and hybrids nanostructures as well as the industrial partners
embedded in the Centre.
Applicants need to have, or expect to achieve, a first-class or a high 2:1 degree in Engineering, Physics, Chemical Engineering, Nanotechnology or Material Science. Applicants from the UK are eligible for a full award, full University and College fees and a maintenance allowance. Applicants from the EU are eligible for a fees only award.
Information on student eligibility can be found on EPSRC website. Interested students should email a CV and 2 reference letters to Dr F. Torrisi (ft242@cam.ac.uk)
Applications should be made on-line via the Cambridge Graduate Admissions Office before the deadline: www.admin.cam.ac.uk/students/g
identified as the potential supervisor.
The University values diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity.