IREC - Catalonia Institute for Energy Research

 

The Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) was created to contribute to the objective of creating a more sustainable future for energy usage and consumption, keeping in mind the economic competitivity and providing society with the maximum level of energy security.

This contribution will be done through scientific and technological development. The research requires a long-term vision which allows the identification of future challenges in energy. The Institute also works with practical research which allows businesses to implement innovative solutions immediately.

The project is framed in the Catalan, Spanish and global economic systems, and for that reason the institutional and business patrons have singularly and significantly joined forces for one common objective: the creation of value by means of scientific knowledge and technological development in the energy sector, a sector with global consequences with brings the IREC to an international arena, and becoming a point of reference in several of these areas.

The IREC is a project in which there are people participating who know that through the Institute they can contribute to a more sustainable future of energy production and consumption, in an environment of excellence.

As is already well known, it is necessary to find the equilibrium between sustainable energy development, economic competitivity and safe and secure energy supply. Each country and each situation requires a different point of equilibrium, but there are common objectives: reduce carbon emissions below 500 ppm before the year 2050.

In any case, the Institute was born within the framework of energy policies and technological research in Catalonia, Spain and the European Union, which design their strategies for a long term basis.

The IREC must help to develop and put into action the new opportunities of the energy sector, while still engaging the present and future social reality.

For more information visit the webpage

Recent Submissions

  • Small atom doping: a synergistic strategy to reduce SnZn recombination center concentration in Cu2ZnSnSe4 

    Jiménez Arguijo, Alex; Navarro Güell, Alejandro; Sánchez González, Yudania; Malerba, Claudia; Giraldo Muñoz, Sergio; Saucedo Silva, Edgardo Ademar (Wiley, 2022-11-07)
    Article
    Open Access
    Kesterite Cu2ZnSnS x Se4-x (CZTSSe) is among the most promising inorganic Earth-abundant thin-film photovoltaic technologies, although currently, the larger voltage deficit compared with more mature chalcogenide technologies ...

  • Characterization of the stability of indium tin oxide and functional layers for semitransparent back-contact applications on Cu(in,Ga)Se2 solar cells 

    Fonoll Rubio, Robert; Placidi, Marcel Jose; Hoelscher, Torsten; Thomere, Angélica; Jehl Li-Kao, Zacharie; Guc, Maxim; Izquierdo Roca, Víctor; Scheer, Roland; Perez Rodriguez, Alejandro (Wiley, 2022-07-08)
    Article
    Open Access
    Herein, a detailed study of the stability of different ITO-based back-contact configurations (including bare ITO contacts and contacts functionalized with nanometric Mo, MoSe2, and MoS2 layers) under the coevaporation ...

  • Electric vehicle battery health expected at end of life in the upcoming years based on UK data 

    Canals Casals, Lluc; Etxandi Santolaya, Maite; Bibiloni Mulet, Pere Antoni; Corchero García, Cristina; Trilla Romero, Lluís (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), 2022-10-07)
    Article
    Open Access
    Second-life businesses from Electric Vehicle (EV) batteries are gaining attention considering that these batteries are deemed as inappropriate for transport purposes once they reach 80 or 70% of State of Health (SoH). ...

  • Dual extended Kalman filter for state of charge estimation of lithium–sulfur batteries 

    Trilla Romero, Lluís; Canals Casals, Lluc; Jacas Biendicho, Jordi; Paradell, Pol (2022-09-23)
    Article
    Open Access
    Lithium-Sulfur is a promising technology for the next generation of batteries and research efforts for early-stage prototype implementation increased in recent years. For the development of a suitable Battery Management ...

  • Procedure for Assessing the Suitability of Battery Second Life Applications after EV First Life 

    Montes Torre, Tomás; Etxandi Santolaya, Maite; Eichman, Josh; Ferreira Ferreira, Victor José; Trilla Romero, Lluís; Corchero García, Cristina (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), 2022-09-09)
    Article
    Open Access
    Using batteries after their first life in an Electric Vehicle (EV) represents an opportunity to reduce the environmental impact and increase the economic benefits before recycling the battery. Many different second life ...

  • Bromine etching of kesterite thin films: perspectives in depth defect profiling and device performance improvement 

    Tiwari, Kunal; Jiménez Arguijo, Alex; Giraldo, Sergio; Placidi, Marcel Jose; Calvo-Barrio, L; Fonoll Rubio, Robert; Izquierdo Roca, Víctor; Sánchez González, Yudania; Perez Rodriguez, Alejandro; Saucedo Silva, Edgardo Ademar; Jehl Li-Kao, Zacharie (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2021)
    Conference report
    Restricted access - publisher's policy
    Using a controlled bromine etching on kesterite absorbers, two major results are obtained. We establish the first defect depth profiling and secondary phases depth profiling of a state of the art Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) film ...

  • Towards low cost and sustainable thin film thermoelectric devices based on quaternary chalcogenides 

    Isotta, Eleonora; Andrade Arvizu, Jacob; Syafiq, Ubaidah; Jiménez Arguijo, Alex; Navarro Güell, Alejandro; Guc, Maxim; Saucedo Silva, Edgardo Ademar; Scardi, Paolo (2022-05-20)
    Article
    Open Access
    A major challenge in thermoelectrics (TEs) is developing devices made of sustainable, abundant, and non-toxic materials. Furthermore, the technological drive toward low sizes makes crucial the study of nano and micro ...

  • Combining 2D organic and 1D inorganic nanoblocks to develop free-standing hybrid nanomembranes for conformable biosensors 

    García Torres, José Manuel; Sylla, Dioulde Huguette; Lanzalaco, Sonia; Ginebra Molins, Maria Pau; Alemán Llansó, Carlos (2022-03-02)
    Article
    Open Access
    Covenantee:   Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu / Institut de Recerca en Energia de Catalunya / Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya
    We report a simple approach to fabricate free-standing perforated 2D nanomembranes hosting well-ordered 1D metallic nanostructures to obtain hybrid materials with nanostructured surfaces for fexible electronics. Nanomembranes ...

  • Controlling the anionic ratio and gradient in kesterite technology 

    Andrade Arvizu, Jacob; Fonoll Rubio, Robert; Izquierdo Roca, Víctor; Becerril Romero, Ignacio; Sylla, Dioulde Huguette; Vidal Fuentes, Pedro; Jehl Li-Kao, Zacharie; Thomere, Angélica; Giraldo, Sergio; Tiwari, Kunal; Resalati, Shahaboddin; Guc, Maxim; Placidi, Marcel Jose (2022-01-03)
    Article
    Open Access
    Accurate anionic control during the formation of chalcogenide solid solutions is fundamental for tuning the physicochemical properties of this class of materials. Compositional grading is the key aspect of band gap engineering ...

  • Does Sb2Se3 admit nonstoichiometric conditions? How modifying the overall se content affects the structural, optical, and optoelectronic properties of Sb2Se3 thin films 

    Caño Prades, Ivan; Vidal Fuentes, Pedro; Calvo Barrio, Lorenzo; Alcobé Olle, Xavier; Giraldo, Sergio; Sánchez González, Yudania; Jehl Li-Kao, Zacharie; Placidi, Marcel Jose; Puigdollers i González, Joaquim; Izquierdo Roca, Víctor; Saucedo Silva, Edgardo Ademar; Asensi López, José Miguel (2022-03-09)
    Article
    Open Access
    Sb2Se3 is a quasi-one-dimensional (1D) semiconductor, which has shown great promise in photovoltaics. However, its performance is currently limited by a high Voc deficit. Therefore, it is necessary to explore new strategies ...

  • Molecular engineering to tune the ligand environment of atomically dispersed nickel for efficient alcohol electrochemical oxidation 

    Liang, Zhifu; Jiang, Daochuan; Wang, Xiang; Shakouri, Mohsen; Zhang, Ting; Li, Zhongjun; Tang, Pengyi; Llorca Piqué, Jordi; Liu, Lijia; Yuan, Yupeng; Heggen, Marc; Dunin-Borkowski, Rafal E.; Morante Lleonart, Joan Ramon; Cabot Codina, Andreu; Arbiol, Jordi (2021-09-16)
    Article
    Open Access
    Atomically dispersed metals maximize the number of catalytic sites and enhance their activity. However, their challenging synthesis and characterization strongly complicates their optimization. Here, the aim is to demonstrate ...

  • Insights on the thermal stability of the Sb2Se3 quasi-1D photovoltaic technology 

    Vidal Fuentes, Pedro; Guc, Maxim; Becerril Romero, Ignacio; Sylla, Dioulde Huguette; Alcobé Olle, Xavier; Sánchez González, Yudania; Pérez Rodríguez, Alejandro; Saucedo Silva, Edgardo Ademar; Izquierdo Roca, Víctor (Wiley, 2021-10-13)
    Article
    Open Access
    This work explores the thermal stability of antimony-based photovoltaic (PV) technologies investigating the effect of low-temperature (50—350¿°C) postdeposition annealings (PDAs) on bare Sb2Se3 absorbers and complete ...

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