El grupo se centra en el estudio de los procesos de conversión de energía a nanoescala mediante estos procesos para almacenar energía y producir combustibles solares, sintéticos y productos químicos de valor añadido para la sustitución de fuentes fósiles. Además, las actividades implican el despliegue de movilidad sostenible basada en baterías y / o hidrógeno, así como en redes de energía inteligentes para ciudades y sociedades sostenibles.
Los esfuerzos de investigación se han dirigido a un enfoque ascendente que persigue materiales transformadores, químicos y arquitecturas que se pueden mezclar y combinar para producir catalizador, electrodos, reactores y baterías con una gran variedad de métricas de rendimiento dirigidas que abarcan densidad, potencia, capacidad, coste, vida y seguridad.
Temas relacionados en almacenamiento de productos químicos: hidrógeno verde, biometano, hidrógeno solar, captura y reducción de CO2 a CO, ácido fórmico, gases, metanol, … e-combustibles; economía circular de plástico …
Temas relacionados en baterías: baterías de alta densidad de energía
Las líneas de actividad se concretan en:
A) Almacenamiento de energía en forma química:
1) Combustibles Solares
2) Combustibles Sintéticos
3) Materiales, componentes y escalabilidad de los reactores para producción
B) Almacenamiento de energía en forma electroquímica:
1) Baterías de flujo por alta demanda de capacidad energética
2) Foto baterías
3) Supercapacidades para alta demanda de capacidad de potencia
C) Sistemas totalmente autónomos para aplicaciones IoT
1) Mecanismos y Procesos de transferencia de energía a nanoescala
2) Termoelectricidad, sistemas termoeléctrico y aplicaciones
3) Sistemas de captación de energía y de almacenamiento a nano y micro escala
Joan Ramon Morante Lleonart (Catedrático) jrmorante(at)ub.edu
Engineering the Interfacial Microenvironment via Surface Hydroxylation to Realize the Global Optimization of Electrochemical CO2Reduction. Han X., Zhang T., Biset-Peiró M., Zhang X., Li J., Tang W., Tang P., Morante J.R., Arbiol J. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 14, 28, 32157, 2022
Phase Engineering of Defective Copper Selenide toward Robust Lithium-Sulfur Batteries. Yang D., Li M., Zheng X., Han X., Zhang C., Jacas Biendicho J., Llorca J., Wang J., Hao H., Li J., Henkelman G., Arbiol J., Morante J.R., Mitlin D., Chou S., Cabot A. ACS Nano, 16, 7, 11102, 2022
Effects of solar irradiation on thermally driven CO2 methanation using Ni/CeO2–based catalyst. Golovanova V., Spadaro M.C., Arbiol J., Golovanov V., Rantala T.T., Andreu T., Morante J.R. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental. 2021, 291, 120038
Tubular CoFeP@CN as a Mott–Schottky Catalyst with Multiple Adsorption Sites for Robust Lithium−Sulfur Batteries. Zhang C., Du R., Biendicho J.J., Yi M., Xiao K., Yang D., Zhang T., Wang X., Arbiol J., Llorca J., Zhou Y., Morante J.R., Cabot A. Advanced Energy Materials. 2021, 11, 24, 2100432
Facing Seawater Splitting Challenges by Regeneration with Ni−Mo−Fe Bifunctional Electrocatalyst for Hydrogen and Oxygen Evolution. Ros C., Murcia-López S., Garcia X., Rosado M., Arbiol J., Llorca J., Morante J.R. ChemSusChem. 2021, 14, 14
Contact resistance stability and cation mixing in a Vulcan-based LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2slurry for semi-solid flow bateries. Jacas Biendicho J., Hemesh A., Izquierdo V., Flox C., Morante J.R. Dalton Transactions. 2021, 50, 19
Photoelectrochemical water splitting: a road from stable metal oxides to protected thin film solar cells. Ros C., Andreu T., Morante J.R. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2020, 8(21)
Atomically dispersed Fe in a C2N Based Catalyst as a Sulfur Host for Efficient Lithium–Sulfur Batteries. Liang Z., Yang D., Tang P., Zhang C., Jacas Biendicho J., Zhang Y., Llorca J., Wang X., Li J., Heggen M., David J., Dunin-Borkowski R.E., Zhou Y., Morante J.R., Cabot A., Arbiol J. Advanced Energy Materials. 2020
ZnSe/N-doped carbon nanoreactor with multiple adsorption sites for stable lithium-sulfur batteries. Yang D., Zhang C., Biendicho J.J., Han X., Liang Z., Du R., Li M., Li J., Arbiol J., Llorca J., Zhou Y., Morante J.R., Cabot A. ACS Nano. 2020, 14 (11)
Photoelectrochemical water splitting: a road from stable metal oxides to protected thin film solar cells. Ros C., Andreu T., Morante J.R. Journal of Materials Chemistry A. 2020, 8(21)
Outstanding Reviewers for Energy & Environmental Science in 2019. Energy & Environmental Science, 2020, 13(5), , 1299-1299
Engineering grain boundaries at the 2D limit for the hydrogen evolution reaction
Nature Communications, 2020, 11(1)
CEOPS: CO2-Loop for Energy storage and conversion to Organic chemistry. FP7-NMP-309984.
Processes through advanced catalytic Systems. IP: Joan R. Morante
Horizon 2020. 2016-2019
HELIS: High energy lithium sulphur cells and batteries H2020-NMP-666221.
IP: Joan Ramon Morante. Horizon 2020
2015-2019
Functional nano materials laboratory
Electrochemical batteries laboratory
Photoelectroconversion and CO2 laboratory
Thermoconversion and catalysis laboratory
Environmental energy collectors and 2D storage laboratory
The research group coorinadtes and/or participates in some networks; xarxa d’excel·lencia MINECO BAT-FLU (Bateries de Flux Redox); FOTO-FUEL (Red de excelencia en producción de combustibles solares), Materials Avançats per a l’Energia (XARMAE) de la direcció General de Recerca de la Generalitat i RIS3CAT energia de la Generalitat de Catalunya. It also has the recognition of TECNIO, by ACCIO Generalitat de Catalunya.
Due to the intense activity of the group in European projects, the group collaborates with various institutions and companies at European and international level, such as: Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), C.T.G. SPA – Italcementi, Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), OMNIDEA, Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie Paris (ENSCP), Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa (NOVA), GDF-Suez Energy Romania, European Materials Research Society, Chemie-Cluster Bayern, University of Cologne UNICO, Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), University of Warsaw (UW), Tampere University of technology (TUT), Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per la Scienza e Tecnologia dei Materiali (INSTM), Siemens AG SAG, Sachtleben Pigment GmbH SC, Repsol i Gas Natural.
M2E has scientific collaboration international recognized research groups. One of the fields in which the group has established partnerships with national and international groups is that of nano-energy research. Therefore, there is a special emphasis on the transfer of energy to the nano-scale using low-dimensional materials (nano tubes of carbon, graphene, quantum graphene points, 2D materials etc.). Specifically, part of these collaborations focuses on the study of the functionalization of these materials, their surface treatment and on the processes and mechanisms that can take place.
In the field of 1D structures such as semiconductor nanowires for applications in new energies, the team have collaborations with other groups: Prof. Anna Fontcuberta i Morral, EPFL (Lausanne, Switzerland), el Prof. Martin Eickhoff, Bremen Universität, Bremen (Germany), professor Rossi CNRS Montréal (Canada) and Prof. A. Vomiero (Lula Sweden).
In the field of the application of nanostructures for new energies and catalysis the researchers have collaborations with Prof. Brian Korgel from University of Texas at Austin (USA), Prof. Wolfgang Schumann from Ruhr Universität Bochum, (Bochum, Germany), Prof. Maksym V. Kovalenko, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH (Zurich, Switzerland), Dr. Mauro Epifani, CNR-Istituto per Microelettronica Microsistemi, CNR-IMM (Lecce, Italy), Prof. Jose Ramon Galan-Mascaros, Institut Català d’Investigació Química (ICIQ), and Prof. Jordi Arbiol ICN2
In the analysis of the mechanisms of growth and application of 2D structures (graphene, MoS2, MoTe2, etc.) in energy and photonics, we have collaborations among others with the groups of the Dra. Esther Alarcón-Lladó, FOM Institute AMOLF, (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Prof. Anna Fontcuberta i Morral, EPFL (Lausanne, Switzerland), Prof, Davide Barreca (Universitat de Padova), Prof. Lars Osterlund d’Uppsala. En temes de bateries i supercaps es te entre altres col·laboracions amb el professor Y Gogotsi de la universitat de Drexel USA , amb el professor Walsh de la universitat de Southampton , la professora C. Engstrom de la U. Uppsala, la professora F. Montmajor de la Universitat tècnica de Lisboa.
Professor J.R.Morante is member and vice-president of the executive committee from European Materials Research Society and member of some congresses organizing committee (TCM transparent conductive materials, Eurosensors,…..). He is also editor in chief of the Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics from the English Institute of Physics (IOP).
Finally it is also to note the collaboration of the research team with private companies: REPSOL, Gas Natural Fenosa, FAE, IDIADA, RDflow, EDP ( Hidrocantabrico energía), Zigor, Cidete, Albufera, …