R&D Units
Electrochemical Processes
Energy storage and electrochemical solutions for the water-energy nexus
What We Do?
The Electrochemical Processes Unit develops advanced electrochemical technologies for energy storage and environmental applications related to the water-energy nexus.
Its research focuses on the design of new devices, materials and methodologies to improve the performance, durability and sustainability of key electrochemical systems for the energy transition.
Team members
Dr. Jesús Palma
Dr. Julio José Lado
Research Areas
- Development of supercapacitors with higher energy density while maintaining power density, cycle life, and charge and discharge efficiency.
- Design and development of flow batteries based on novel chemistries free from critical raw materials, aimed at improving efficiency, increasing energy density and reducing the cost per kWh of stored energy.
- Development of materials and components to improve the performance, cycle life and recyclability of lithium-ion and other metal-ion batteries.
- Design and scale-up of capacitive and Faradaic deionisation processes to capture value-added or potentially hazardous ionic species dissolved in natural waters or high-salinity wastewater.
- Development of new testing methodologies and accelerated testing protocols for batteries and supercapacitors to assess ageing under different storage and operating conditions.
Facilities
The Electrochemical Processes Unit’s research infrastructure includes two laboratories and one pilot plant, equipped with a wide range of instruments and equipment.
These facilities provide capabilities ranging from fundamental research and the modelling of chemical compounds and materials to rapid prototyping and pilot-scale testing.
Projects
3-Phase-BAT
B3ES
BASSERE
COFFEE
eNargiZinc
HOPE-BAT
MFreeB
NET4BAT
NITRO-D-CELL
NOMAD
SHEAR
SOLENER-CM
Outstanding results
1. MFreeB — Membrane-Free Redox Flow Batteries
The Membrane-Free Redox Flow Batteries (MFreeB) project proposes a disruptive, versatile and scalable redox flow battery in which the vanadium redox couples currently used are replaced by low-cost, abundant and environmentally friendly organic molecules.
The problematic ion-exchange membrane conventionally used to separate the electrolytes is eliminated through the development of immiscible redox electrolytes.
Led by Dr Rebeca Marcilla, the project received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, Grant Agreement No. 726217.
Call: ERC-CoG-2016 — ERC Consolidator Grant
Project period: June 2017 – November 2023
2. MeBattery — Mediated Biphasic Battery
The overall objective of the MeBattery project is to lay the foundations for a next-generation battery technology capable of overcoming critical limitations of state-of-the-art battery technologies while achieving an excellent balance across key performance indicators.
The project received funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC) under the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Framework Programme, Grant Agreement No. 101046742.
Call: HORIZON-EIC-2021-PATHFINDEROPEN-01-01
Project period: May 2022 – April 2025
3. Sergio Pinilla — Energy for Future (E4F) Fellowship
Dr Sergio Pinilla was awarded an Energy for Future (E4F) postdoctoral fellowship, an initiative of the Horizon 2020 MSCA-COFUND programme coordinated by Fundación Iberdrola.
The programme provides international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral training opportunities in the field of clean and sustainable energy.
Dr Pinilla selected IMDEA Energy as the host organisation for his research project, “All-solid-state batteries based on polymeric compounds (PoliSolidBat)”.
Project period: April 2022 – April 2024
4. Nagaraj Patil — Juan de la Cierva Fellowship
Dr Nagaraj Patil was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship under the 2020 Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación programme of the Spanish State Research Agency (IJC2020-043076-I).
Project period: April 2022 – April 2025
5. Julio Lado — Talent Attraction Grant
Dr Julio Lado was awarded funding under the 2020 Talent Attraction Programme for the incorporation of research talent into research groups in the Region of Madrid (2020-T1/AMB-19799).
His project is entitled “Selective Electrochemical Separation Technologies (SELECVALUE)”.
Project period: January 2022 – December 2026
6. Andreas Mavrantonakis — Talent Attraction Grant
Dr Andreas Mavrantonakis was awarded funding under the 2017 Talent Attraction Programme for the incorporation of research talent into research groups in the Region of Madrid (2017-T1/AMB-5264).
His project was entitled “Computer-Aided Design of Functional Nanomaterials for Energy Storage Applications (CADFUNES)”.
Project period: January 2018 – December 2022
7. Maite Páez — PhD Thesis Defence
On 24 February 2022, Mª Teresa Páez Viñas defended her PhD thesis entitled “High-Energy-Density Redox-Mediated Flow Batteries”, carried out within IMDEA Energy’s Electrochemical Processes Unit.
The thesis was supervised by Dr Jesús Palma, researcher at IMDEA Energy, and Dr Edgar Ventosa, currently affiliated with the University of Burgos.
8. International Patent Granted
On 3 March 2022, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) granted IMDEA Energy the patent entitled “Recyclable Electrode Cell”, publication number WO2022043542.
The inventors are J. Lado, E. Ventosa, D. Pérez, E. García-Quismondo and J. Palma.
