Energy

Energy-related research and development lines.

Ageing of supercapacitors

by the Self-Assembly group

We disassemble electrodes and other parts of commercial capacitors, and analyze them for very slow (electro)chemical and structural modifications with a broad range of mainly surface science methods.

High performance biomaterials

by the Nanobiotechnology group

Development of new materials based on enzymatic reactions. Enzymes are redesigned to improve highly abundant materials into high-value materials with properties unattainable by regular chemical and physical procedures. These materials can be combined with others to create composites and matrices that combine properties such as biocompatibility with physicochemical properties such as conductivity and resilience. These materials might be of the interest of the energy, materials, and bioelectronic industries.

Lithium sulfur batteries

by the Nanomaterials group

Coating of nanoparticles using fluidized bed reactors. We have a setup to perform functional coatings on particles while they float in a gas bed. This setup has been used to improve the stability and at the same time increase the sulfur loading of cathodes in Li-S batteries. The project was performed in collaboration with CIDETEC.

Hybrid thermoelectric materials

by the Nanomaterials group

We are developing materials for a use in flexible thermoelectric devices. This project is funded through the Marie Sklodowska-Curie funding scheme and we collaborate with the Leibniz-Institute IFW in Dresden, Germany.