Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC)
Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC)
REC is a research institution under the trust of different governmental and private organisations which include the Departments of Economy, Industry and Innovation of the Catalan Government, the Spanish Ministries of Industry and Science & Innovation and leading companies in the energy management and distribution sectors such as ENDESA, GAS NATURAL, REPSOL, ENAGÁS, CLH AND ALSTOM. IREC is in the Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) for Sustainable Energy recently designated by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIIT, http://eit.europa.eu).
IREC is organised in two Applied Research Areas: Advanced Materials and Bioenergy and Biofuels and three Technological Areas: Electrical Engineering, Energy Efficiency and Offshore Wind Energy. The Advanced Materials for Energy area has five laboratories:
Functional nanomaterials;
Materials for catalysis;
Solar energy material and systems;
Nanoionics and fuel cells;
Energy storage, harvesting and sensor networks.
Three of these groups are involved in this proposal, namely, the “Nanoionics and Fuel Cells Group” and the “Energy Storage, Harvesting and Sensor Networks Group“. At the EU level, IREC has actively participated in the calls of FP6 and FP7 programs especially addressing the NMP, ICT and Energy calls.
Website: IREC
Partner's role
IREC will be involved in the growth of thin films for microbatteries by PLD using a combinatorial chemistry approach (WP4) and their structural and electrochemical characterisation as a device and integrated together with a microharvester (WP4 and WP5). IREC will also fabricate and characterize the silicon and silicon‐germanium nanowires grown by CVD for the thermoelectric harvester to be developed in WP2. It wil be also in charge of nanofibre electrospinning for the piezo‐electric NG of WP3. Finally, IREC will carry out the LCA and critic materials analysis (WP1).
Research team: Albert Tarancón, Alex Morata, Marc Torrell, Gerard Gadea.
