CeNTI

New solutions for energy production and storage for a green transition

Energy is at the core of the environmental challenge, both due to its impact on climate change and its role in addressing this issue. To achieve climate neutrality by 2050 in Europe, it is crucial to transform energy production and use.

Therefore, it is necessary to promote the responsible and efficient use of energy resources and encourage the transition to cleaner and renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, biomass, biofuels, and more recently, green hydrogen. The goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, diversify energy supply, and decrease dependence on unreliable and volatile fossil fuel markets.

CeNTI, in partnership with different value chain players, has been working on finding alternative solutions, strategies, and systems for more efficient and sustainable energy consumption management in Portugal. Leveraging Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials, and Smart Systems, disruptive technological solutions for energy generation and storage are being developed.

The research highlights two principal areas: the valorisation of industrial waste and by-products to obtain raw materials and critical materials through sustainable recycling, extraction, and refining processes, aiming their use in battery development; and the diagnosis and dismantling of end-of-life battery systems for reuse or new applications (second life), such as energy storage for renewable energy (solar and wind).

Additionally, several solar cell technologies, including organic, DSSCs (dye-sensitized solar cells), and perovskite, as well as lithium cells, are being developed. The methods include wet processing, involving the development, deposition, and characterisation of anodes and cathodes at laboratory and pilot scales, and physical deposition (PVD). 

 

Concurrently, printed batteries, using materials with a lower environmental impact, are also being developed, intended for applications with lower energy demands.