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

  • 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
    Restricted access - publisher's policy
    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
    Restricted access - publisher's policy
    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 ...

  • High efficiency Cu2ZnSnS4 solar cells over FTO substrates and their CZTS/CdS interface passivation via thermal evaporation of Al2O3 

    Ojeda Durán, Esteban; Monfil Leyva, Karim; Andrade Arvizu, Jacob; Becerril Romero, Ignacio; Sánchez González, Yudania; Fonoll Rubio, Robert; Guc, Maxim; Jehl Li-Kao, Zacharie; Luna Lópeza, José A.; Saucedo Silva, Edgardo Ademar (Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), 2021-04-28)
    Article
    Open Access
    The fabrication of soda lime glass/fluorine-doped tin oxide (SLG/FTO) transparent substrates represents an important advance in the fabrication of tandem solar cells. In addition, possible passivation using Al2O3, which ...

  • Insights on the limiting factors of Cu2ZnGeSe4 based solar cells 

    Anefnaf, Ikram; Aazou, Safae; Vidal Fuentes, Pedro; Fonoll Rubio, Robert; Tiwari, Ashish Kumar; Jehl Li-Kao, Zacharie; Guc, Maxim; Saucedo Silva, Edgardo Ademar; Sekkat, Zouheir (2021-08-01)
    Article
    Restricted access - publisher's policy
    Germanium-based wide band gap kesterite semiconductor Cu2ZnGe(S,Se)4 (CZGeSSe) is considered a very promising absorber compound as top cell in tandem devices. Autonomy to tailor the band gap from ~1.47 eV (Cu2ZnGeSe4-CZGeSe) ...

  • Ultrathin wide-bandgap a-Si:H-based solar cells for transparent photovoltaic applications 

    Lopez-Garcia, Alex J.; Blazquez, Oriol; Voz Sánchez, Cristóbal; Puigdollers i González, Joaquim; Izquierdo Roca, Víctor; Perez Rodriguez, Alejandro (Wiley, 2022-01-01)
    Article
    Open Access
    Herein, the fabrication of UV-blue selective transparent solar cells based on ultrathin (<30¿nm) intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon films (a-Si:H) as absorber and using a fully inorganic architecture is reported, ...

  • NbSe2 meets C2N: a 2D-2D heterostructure catalysts as multifunctional polysulfide mediator in ultra-long-life lithium–sulfur batteries 

    Yang, Dawei; Liang, Zhifu; Zhang, Chaoqi; Jacas Biendicho, Jordi; Spadaro, Maria Chiara; Li, Mengyao; Moghaddam, Ahmad Ostovari; Llorca Piqué, Jordi; Morante Lleonart, Joan Ramon; Arbiol, Jordi; Cabot, Andreu (2021-09-23)
    Article
    Restricted access - publisher's policy
    The shuttle effect and sluggish conversion kinetics of lithium polysulfides (LiPS) hamper the practical application of lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs). Toward overcoming these limitations, herein an in situ grown C2N@NbSe2 ...

  • Combinatorial and machine learning approaches for the analysis of Cu2ZnGeSe4: influence of the off-stoichiometry on defect formation and solar cell performance 

    Grau Luque, Enric; Anefnaf, Ikram; Benhaddou, Nada; Fonoll Rubio, Robert; Becerril Romero, Ignacio; Aazou, Safae; Saucedo Silva, Edgardo Ademar; Sekkat, Zouheir; Pérez Rodríguez, Alejandro; Izquierdo Roca, Víctor; Guc, Maxim (Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), 2021-04-28)
    Article
    Open Access
    Solar cells based on quaternary kesterite compounds like Cu2ZnGeSe4 are complex systems where the variation of one parameter can result in changes in the whole system, and, as consequence, in the global performance of the ...

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