People involved in the video:
Name: Juan Asenjo Pascual
Position: PhD student
Organization: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Name: Iván Salmeron Sanchez
Position: PhD student
Organization: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Name: Juan Ramon Aviles Moreno
Position: Assistant professor
Organization: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Name: Pilar Ocón Esteban
Position: Professor
Organization: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Short interview for the video:
What is the main contribution/role of your institution in the HIGREEW project?
The HIGREEW project is a consortium of universities and business which pretends to design, develop and validate an efficient Redox Flow Battery (RFB). Among the different tasks to reach this objective, UAM team has been in charge of selecting cost-effective commercial membranes for the future battery prototype. Membranes plays an important role in the battery performance since is the major responsible to avoid the cross-mixing of the redox active material and represent a significant contribution to the resistance of the system. Therefore, it will determine the voltage efficiency and consequently, the energy efficiency of the battery. In this regard, different membranes have been tested in order to select the best material which fullfil HIGREEW targets. Furthermore, different membrane modifications have been studied to enhance their performance.
What is the most challenging and/or exciting part?
The most challenging part has been the selection of the membrane. The market offers a wide variety of membranes and each membrane present different advantages and disadvantages pros and cons. These materials are defined by several physico-chemical parameters, and a deeply understanding and analysis of them has been the most challenging part. However, despite the difficulties found during the process it let us reach interesting results that provides our personal satisfaction. Furthermore, keep in mind that we are working to ease the implementation of renewable energies into the electrical grid which slow the climate change.
How are the results relevant to you and how will you make use of the project results in your institution? How are these advances important in the field of energy storage?
All the work developed in the HIGREEW project, consolidates UAM team in RFB field, especially regarding ion exchange membranes, and opens the door to face new further challenging projects and ideas. The expertise acquired during this project will be used in the development of new systems that may contribute positively to the energy storage field.
What is your experience within the HIGREEW project and collaborating with a team of EU partners?
Work in an European project have been a very good opportunity to enrich the knowledge of all the team specially for the PhD training of Ivan and Juan. The interaction with the different partners around Europe let us be involved in other interesting research expertise through international collaborations which is an outstanding opportunity to develop our professional careers and a fruitful experience for to boost our specialized as well as personal skills. Besides, experts from business provide another enriching perspective focused on the feasibility of the research carried out in the laboratories to the final prototype for the global market.
More videos from the HIGREEW partners can be found on the video timeline.