Category Archives: News

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The “Power of Interfaces” 2024 workshop, was held at the Caixa Forum, in Palma de Mallorca from April 3rd to 5th, 2024, and marked a significant moment in European innovation and collaboration in the energy sector. Leading European projects, 24/7 ZEN, HarveStore, EpiStore, and HyP3D and led by IREC researchers, co-organized the event, while also actively engaging and providing invaluable contributions.

The workshop provided opportunities for key discussions and insights into the most recent developments and advances in energy technologies. The workshop topics ranged from the exploration of novel materials and solid-state devices for energy storage and conversion, modeling, and characterization techniques, to the application of micro- and nanotechnologies for energy devices.

An international spring school was held at the same location on April 3rd, prior to the workshop. The spring school, also co-hosted by EpiStore, HarveStore, HyP3D, and 24/7 ZEN, covered a wide range of topics, providing an overview of the fundamentals of materials, while also analyzing devices and systems.

“The Power of Interfaces” workshop showcased prospects for innovation and advancement in the energy sector by demonstrating the potential of collaboration and knowledge sharing among the participants. These European initiatives share a common goal and are determined to create a sustainable energy future.

The European Innovation Council (EIC) has established an initiative aimed at boosting cutting-edge technologies from the laboratory to real-world applications. The EIC Transition program provides crucial support to research organizations, start-ups small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), for maturing their innovations and bridging the gap between groundbreaking research and market-ready solutions.
OxyBatt (“high-temperature oxygen batteries for industrial Internet of Things”) is one of the 27 granted projects under this scheme during the first call of 2024 and will develop a portable battery operating at high temperatures above 150 ºC. The core of this new battery solution is a thin-film rechargeable system that utilizes oxygen storage, with no reliance on scarce elements such as Li. During the project, the product will be coupled to a thermoelectric energy source and will be integrated into a commercial industrial internet of things device (IIoT), demonstrating the potential to enter the important market of predictive maintenance in harsh industrial environments as a safe and sustainable solution.
The project joins the forces of 5 strong European entities in the field, and combines technology developers (IREC, Vienna University of Technology, Nano4energy), IIoT device manufacturers (AEInnova) and business developers (DayOne).
“The OxyBatt project represents a unique opportunity,” says Federico Baiutti, senior researcher in the Nanoionics and Fuel Cells group at IREC and project coordinator. “Our battery technology can work in harsh industrial settings that are currently inaccessible to any storage system. It is easy to integrate in existing IIoT devices and will enable to introduce predictive maintenance practices for improved safety and optimization of industrial processes”.
OxyBatt has been granted 2.5M€, starting on May 2024 and lasting for 36 months. The project builds on previous research from Harvestore, where the proof-of-concept for the oxygen battery was demonstrated.

The European projects HarveStore, EpiStore, HyP3D and 24/7 ZEN announce the 4th edition of the “The Power of Interfaces” workshop, which will take place on 3rd – 5th April 2024.

Following the last successful meeting, where we hosted more than 80 participants, the workshop will be held in-person at the Caixa Forum of Palma de Mallorca (Spain), where we will discuss the latest advances in:

New materials for energy;
Solid-state devices for energy storage and conversion;
Advanced manufacturing;
Advanced characterization techniques;
Modelling;
Micro and nanotechnologies for energy devices.
The workshop will comprise of invited, keynote, contributed talks and posters. The event will be preceded by an international spring school covering aspects from fundamentals of materials to devices and systems. The spring school will take place on April the 3rd in the same venue and will be co-organized by EpiStore, HarveStore, HyP3D and 24/7 ZEN.

For further info: link.

The Nanoionics and Fuel Cells group at IREC is looking for a PhD student for an exciting new project on a novel battery technology based on thin films! Check it out: link.

Researchers at CNRS, in collaboration with IREC, have developed a new technique for probing oxygen kinetics in-situ. The techinque is based on tracking the changes of isotope concentration in a material by Raman. The proof of concept and strengths of isotope exchange Raman spectroscopy (IERS) is demonstrated by studying the oxygen isotope back-exchange in gadolinium-doped ceria (CGO) thin films. Resulting oxygen self-diffusion and surface exchange coefficients are compared to conventional time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) characterization and literature values, showing good agreement, while at the same time providing additional insight, challenging established assumptions. IERS captivates through its rapidity, simple setup, non-destructive nature, cost effectiveness, and versatile fields of application and thus can readily be integrated as new standard tool for in situ and operando characterization in many laboratories worldwide. The applicability of this method is expected to consolidate the understanding of elementary physicochemical processes and impact various emerging fields including solid oxide cells, battery research, and beyond. Link to publication: here.

Project partners from IREC have partecipated in the “Festa de la Ciencia” 2023 in Barcelona. A great outreach event to explain our activities and to introduce people to the power of harvesting heat and light! A very crowded event co-organized with another EU project “EpiStore”, as you can see from the gallery pictures.

The European Material Research Society sprng meeting will take place from may 29th to June 2nd in Strasbourg, France. The project is sponsor and contributor of Symposium A “Solid State Ionics: bulk, interfaces and integration in devices”. Check the full program: link.

Project partners at IREC and CNRS have participated in a new book, “Nanoengineered materials for solid oxide cells” in the IOP ebook series. The volume focuses on the fundamental research and progress achieved in utilizing nanostructured materials to boost the properties and performance of solid oxide cell devices. Link to publication: here.

The “Power of Interfaces 2022” meeting (PoI22) has taken place on October 5th-7th in Palma, Mallorca. It hosted three related events: the Harvestore and Epistore projects meetings, a school and the workshop, with 83 participants from 11 different institutions.

This is the third edition of the workshop, being the first one in 2020 at the Royal Society in London, and the second one in 2021 online.

The School covered aspects of fundamentals of oxide chemistry, ion transport, electrochemical devices and advanced characterization techniques. The participants had the opportunity to learn from exceptional lecturers: Ainara Aguadero, Stephen Skinner, Louis De Taeye, Juergen Fleig, Miguel Laguna, John Kilner and Dino Klotz.

On the 6th and 7th of October, the PoI22 workshop has been celebrated. It included seven different sessions: Advanced techniques, Devices, New Materials, Interfaces and surfaces, Modelling and Protonics. Outstanding keynotes have been presented, in addition to a series of invited and contributed talks. A poster session took place the 6th in the afternoon. At the end of the event the “Early career best poster” and “Early career bet oral presentation” prizes were awarded.

Beside the interesting scientific presentations, during the PoI22 event there was also time for informal networking. The welcome reception took place at a micro-brewing were participant could taste local craft beer and food. Invited speakers and project leaders were invited to a Gala dinner at the Xalest restaurant.

Visit our gallery section for photos of the event!