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Research Projects

Materials for High performance thermal energy storage system based on hybrid molten salts and carbonates




01-09-2023 / 31-08-2026



Research Head: Luis Allan Pérez Maqueda / Antonio Perejón Pazo
Organismo Financiador: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
Código: PID2022-140815OB-C22
Componentes: Pedro Enrique Sánchez Jiménez, José Manuel Valverde Millán (US)
Grupo de Investigación: Reactividad de Sólidos

The main objective of the HIPERTES project is the development of a new concept of high-temperature thermochemical energy storage based on a hybrid system of carbonates and molten salts in a single reactor. Subproject 2 focuses mainly on aspects related to the development of materials suitable for these new operating conditions, as well as their optimization and the study of the behavior of the materials during thermochemical cycles.

Although there are proposals based on the use of solid additives to try to improve the cyclability and performance of thermochemical processes based on carbonation/calcination reactions, these solutions have a limit, since a decay of the activity is always observed with the number of cycles, which becomes more evident as the number of cycles increases. In this project, a novel solution based on hybrid systems of carbonates with molten salts is proposed. The salts will provide an increase in the reactivity of both calcination and carbonation, especially improving the kinetics of the diffusive processes.

Thus, the salts are expected to provide (i) fast calcination and carbonation kinetics to make the loading and unloading processes as fast as possible and (ii) high multicyclic stability avoiding deactivation processes by sintering and pore blocking. Two types of systems are proposed, one based on porous pellets that would be impregnated with the salts and the other based on molten salt baths where the carbonate particles would be dispersed. For the first solution, pelletizing techniques will be used to obtain porous pellets from aqueous suspensions of both mineral and synthetic carbonate particles. The pellets obtained will be impregnated with high-temperature salts. In the second solution, mixtures of salts of high thermal stability will be selected in which carbonate particles or pellets will be dispersed. For the preparation of the porous pellets, freeze granulation techniques will be used to obtain porous and stable pellets from particle suspensions. All prepared materials will be characterized in terms of thermophysical properties and multicyclic behavior. Optimal operating conditions as well as maximum working ranges will be established. These results will be used as parameters for subproject 1.

Subproject 2 has the participation of a multidisciplinary team with expertise in chemistry, solid reactivity, heterogeneous kinetics, physics, and materials science to complete the proposed objectives. They have experience and solvency guaranteed in the execution of national and international projects, in addition to industrial projects, in the field of design and characterization of materials for thermal energy storage.


PHOTOelectrocatalytic systems for Solar fuels energy INTegration into the industry with local resources




01-09-2023 / 31-08-2027



Research Head: Hernán Míguez y Laura Caliò
Organismo Financiador: Unión Europea
Código: HORIZON-CL5-2022-D3-02-06
Grupo de Investigación: Materiales Ópticos Multifuncionales

The PHOTOSINT project presents solutions to the challenges chemical industries are facing in integrating renewable energy sources into their processes. The project will deliver sustainable processes to produce hydrogen and methanol as energy vectors using only sunlight as an energy source and wastewater and CO2 as feedstocks, making the industries more auto-sufficient. The pathway is based on solar-driven artificial photosynthesis, and aims to develop new catalytic earth-abundant materials and modifications of existing ones to improve catalytic processes. Design parameters of the PEC cell will be tuned to maximize solar to fuel (STF) efficiency. Moreover to improve the conversion for industrial implementation, PHOTOSINT will develop a novel way to concentrate and illuminate the semiconductor surface to maximize overall energy efficiency. Perovskite solar PV cells will be integrated to harvest the light to supply the external electrical voltage.

PHOTOSINT is an ambitious project due to precedents in research conducted to date and the low production rate of the desired products. For integrating sunlight energy into the industry, the catalyst will be studied, and then the best one/s will be implemented in prototypes. The obtained results will be used for making scale-up in pilots with tandem PEC cells. These steps are necessary to assess the industrial scale-up feasibility, promoting the increased competitiveness of renewable process energy technologies and energy independence. MeOH and H2 will be tested in engines. Also, an HTPEM fuel cell will be used for electricity generation, and hydrogen will be tested as an alternative fuel for energy generation instead natural gas in melting furnaces avoiding CO2 emissions.


Stable Halide perovskite-based photonic and optoelectronic devices by vacuum and plasma technologies




01-09-2023 / 31-08-2026



Research Head: Angel Barranco Quero / Juan Ramón Sánchez Valencia
Organismo Financiador: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
Código: PID2022-143120OB-I00
Componentes: Vanda Fortio, Victor López, José Cotrino, Ricardo Molina (IQAC), Victor J. Rico, Juan Pedro Espinós, Ana I. Borrás, Francisco J. Aparicio, Carmen López, Agustín R. González-Elipe
Grupo de Investigación: Nanotecnología en Superficies y Plasma

PVSkite is a multidisciplinary project whose main objective is to exploit advanced vacuum and plasma techniques for the development of materials, nanostructures, and devices based on halide perovskites. In the case of plasma techniques, we seek to explore proprietary approaches, such as the RPAVD (remote plasma-assisted vacuum deposition) technique, for the development of encapsulation systems, electrode passivation, interfacial engineering, and new electrode formulations for perovskite solar cells. This approach is supported by some very promising recent results of the group on perovskite cell encapsulation and passivation of inorganic electrodes with ultra-thin conformal polymeric films. In the case of vacuum processes, the project will focus on applying the glancing angle deposition technique (GLAD) to the design of anisotropic crystalline perovskites for light polarization control and the structuring of charge transport electrodes.

We also start from some very recent initial results that demonstrate the enormous potential of this approach. The proposed approaches have not been addressed in the current literature, but we believe can have a very important impact on the development of halide perovskite-based materials and devices. The group has more than two decades of internationally recognized experience in the fabrication of functional materials by these techniques and their application in very diverse fields including the development of functional devices (photonics, sensors, energy sensors, etc.).

The project encompasses activities at different levels, combining fundamental and applied research, growth process and materials simulations, synthesis of new materials under design, advanced functional characterization, and device interrogation. The development of a series of laboratory-scale prototypes is a fundamental aspect of the proposal, which will validate the feasibility of the approach. To this end, appropriate platforms and measurement protocols will be designed. The first type of device to be developed will be perovskite cells, stable against water and humidity incorporating all the modifications of interfaces, novel electrodes, and encapsulation elements developed in the project. The second type of device will be polarization-sensitive perovskite optoelectronic devices, also incorporating selected plasma layers to increase their stability. Two types of polarization-sensitive devices will be studied a) polarized light emitting devices and b) polarized light detectors. The project is completed with a preliminary evaluation of the stability in vacuum and in the presence of ionization sources of some selected devices.

For the achievement of PVskites objectives, we count on the collaboration and the express interest of four companies that are directly related to each of the aspects of the proposal. These companies are Arquimea, through its energy division, Lasing SA with a wide experience in the use and development of photonic elements and devices, and Fluxim, a world leader in the study of the environmental stability of solar cells. The fourth company, ALTER TÜV NORD, is interested in the potential application of stable perovskite cells in space.


Influence of the optical environment on persistent luminescence nanomaterials: A new tool for the design of nanobatteries of light




19-05-2023 / 19-11-2024



Research Head: Gabriel S. Lozano Barbero
Organismo Financiador: Fundación BBVA

Grupo de Investigación: Materiales Ópticos Multifuncionales

https://www.redleonardo.es/beneficiario/gabriel-s-lozano-barbero/

The development of societies is linked to their ability to generate artificial light, from torches to today's ubiquitous light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Persistent luminescence (PersL) materials are able to store optical energy in structural defects and generate light long after the excitation source disappears, making them batteries of light. Despite the advantages associated with size reduction, the properties of persistent nanomaterials are far from those of their bulk counterparts used in signaling or ornamentation. This proposal pursues to integrate PersL nanomaterials into transparent thin films and to precisely characterize the charging kinetics and the amount of light emitted during afterglow as a function of the optical environment of the coatings. Photonics has never been explored to control the charging and emission mechanisms that determine PersL, which may have an impact on the development of more versatile color converters, smart labels, anti-counterfeiting elements or optical data storage


Flash Techniques for the Production of High-Entropy Oxides with MAGnetic Properties




01-02-2023 / 28-02-2026



Research Head: Alejandro Fernando Manchón Gordón
Organismo Financiador: Junta de Andalucía
Código: ProyExcel_00360
Grupo de Investigación: Reactividad de Sólidos

The FOMAG project focuses on the application of innovative fast sintering techniques, such as Flash Sintering (FS), Reactive Flash Sintering (RFS), and Multifaceted Flash Sintering (MPFS), for the synthesis of high-entropy oxides (HEOs) with technologically relevant magnetic properties. Despite FS being first proposed in 2010, SFR in 2018, and MPFS in 2022, interest in this process has grown significantly in various scientific fields due to its considerable scientific and technological potential

These techniques enable the fabrication of ceramic materials at significantly lower temperatures and times compared to conventional sintering methods, achieved by applying a small electric current through the sample. Furthermore, the specific experimental conditions of Flash techniques allow the production of dense and nanostructured ceramic materials, which can be challenging using conventional methods. Importantly, Flash sintering not only drastically reduces the energy consumption required for ceramic material processing but also extends its applications to new materials for technological purposes. In this context, HEOs represent an emerging class of ceramic materials with equimolar compositions containing five or more cations. The uniqueness of these systems, first proposed in 2015, lies in their extreme chemical complexity coupled with simple crystallography, where atoms arrange in a relatively straightforward crystal structure, overcoming phase separations typical in heavily doped systems. In terms of the local structure, these materials consist of an unusually high number of distinct combinations of metal-oxygen-metal bonds, inherently affecting magnetic interactions based on factors such as coordination geometry, valence, and the types of surrounding metal cations. This results in a wide range of intriguing magnetic responses.

FOMAG proposes the utilization of FS, RFS, and MPFS techniques in producing HEOs with magnetic properties, capitalizing on the inherent advantages of these techniques, particularly in achieving high density in systems where this is particularly challenging.


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