Søren Højgaard Jensen

This PhD project at DTU Energy , Technical University of Denmark, focuses on one of the central durability challenges in green hydrogen production: understanding how solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) degrade and how some of that degradation can be reversed during reversible operation. The student will use operando transmission electron microscopy to observe a miniaturised SOEC while it operates under gas atmospheres and temperatures up to 900 °C. The goal is to watch nanoscale changes as electrochemical polarisation is applied and then reversed, linking the direction of operation to microstructural evolution. The project is especially interested in mechanisms such as crack formation, carbon poisoning, cation segregation, and contamination migration. The work combines advanced microscopy with electrochemistry and materials analysis, including imaging, diffraction, EDS, EELS, and analysis of electrochemical test data. The project is embedded in DTU Energy’s collaborative environment, where research spans functional materials and sustainable energy conversion and storage. The student will work closely with a main supervisor and co-supervisors, and the project also includes a planned research stay at Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul , to support sample preparation and international collaboration. The broader research context is the reversible-operation concept being developed with industrial partner DynElectro, aiming to improve the lifetime and commercial viability of SOEC technology. The project connects fundamental nanoscale materials science with an industry-relevant energy application.