The electrical conversion and storage of solar energy is a key challenge for world energy supply. Significant achievements have been reported for photoelectrochemical processes to split water or CO2, mimicking artificial photosynthesis. However, the lack of hydrogen distribution infrastructure limits their implementation as the unique solution. This symposium is focused in Solar Powered Electrochemical Energy Storage devices that have emerged as a synergic field together with solar fuels. It integrates a semiconducting light absorber and an electrochemical cell into a single device, being a promising alternative for a more efficient solar energy usage. The photoelectrochemical cell can harvest the solar energy and store it in-situ and distribute the energy as electric power when needed, overcoming energy distribution issues.
- Solar redox flow batteries
- PV coupled devices with batteries and supercaps
- Hybrid systems (solar supercapacitors with hydrogen generation,..)
- Novel photoabsorbers
- Photocharging kinetics and mechanisms
- In-situ characterization of interfaces
- Devices and system design
- Technoeconomical analysis of solar powered energy storage devices
Teresa Andreu is senior lecturer in the Department of Materials Science and Physical Chemistry and holds a degree in Chemistry (UB, 1999) and a PhD in Materials Science and Technology (UB, 2004). She has been part-time lecturer at the Dept. of Materials Science of University of Barcelona (2014-17) and Polytechnic University of Catalonia (2017-19). After a period in industry as researcher in MacDermid Inc, she has been deputy group leader at the Catalonia Energy Research Institute (2009-20), and is now a member of the consolidated Materials for Surface Engineering (MES) group, and the principal investigator of the Sustainable Electrochemical Processes group at the Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry (IQTC). Her research focuses on the use of green electricity for the sustainability of the chemical industry, with the development of materials and reactors for hydrogen production, carbon dioxide conversion and waste valorization using (photo)electrochemical or plasma-catalytic technologies. Throughout her career, she has participated in and led several national, European and industrial projects.
She has participated in the definition of the Catalan Hydrogen Roadmap for 2030-2050 and is currently an active member of the Catalan Hydrogen Network H2CAT (Home – Xarxa H2CAT) and of the Executive Committee of the Hub of Global Sustainability of the University of Barcelona. She has been member of EMIRI (the energy materials industrial research initiative), the Spanish Technological Platform of CO2, PTECO2 (CCU group), and is currently member of the Real Sociedad de Quimica-grupo Electroquimica, the International Society of Electrochemistry, European Materials Research Society and Societat Catalana de Química (SCT). From 2024, she is appointed as SCT representative in the Physical Chemistry division of the European Chemical Society (EUCHEMS).
She is professor of Materials for Energy at the Master of Renewable and Sustainable Energies. She has mentored several postdoc researchers, supervised more than 10 TFMs and 11 PhD thesis in renewable energy-related subjects. Among the graduate doctors, most of them continue their scientific or technological career. Now, 4 thesis are in progress at UB. T. Andreu has authored 4 patents and more than 100 scientific articles. Her h-index is 49 (Scopus, march 2026).
Dowon Bae received his BSc and MSc (Honors) from the Russian State Technological University named after K.E. Tsiolkovsky (current - Moscow Aviation Institute). After research activities within solar cells at the LG Innotek (South Korea; 2008 – 2012), he joined the VILLUM Center for the Science of Sustainable Fuels and Chemicals at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), where he conducted his PhD study and Postdoc under the supervision of Prof. Ib Chorkendorff. His research has focused on PEC (photoelectrochemical) device design for solar-fuel applications. From 2018 to 2020, he has worked as a Postdoc at the Delft University of Technology with LEaDing Fellowship (Marie-Curie COFUND) support. He has held academic appointment as an Assistant Professor at Heriot-Watt University from 2020. His research concerns PEC devices and rechargeable flow-battery systems.
Ravinder DahiyaCristina FloxProfessor Adélio Mendes (born 1964) received his PhD degree from the University of Porto in 1993.
Full Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto. Coordinates a large research team with research interests mainly in dye sensitized solar cells and perovskite solar cells, photoelectrochemical cells including water splitting and solar redox flow batteries, photocatalysis, redox flow batteries, electrochemical membrane reactors (PEMFC, H-SOFC, chemical synthesis), methanol steam reforming, membrane and adsorbent-based gas separations and carbon molecular sieve membranes synthesis and characterization.
Professor Mendes authored or co-authored more than 300 articles in peer-review international journals, filled 23 families of patents and is the author of a textbook; received an Advanced Research Grant from the ERC on dye-sensitized solar cells for building integrated of ca. 2 MEuros and since 2013 he is partner in 4 more EU projects and leads one EU project. Presently he is the leader of a FET Open project, GOTSolar, on perovskite solar cells. He received the Air Products Faculty Excellence 2011 Award (USA) for developments in gas separation and Solvay & Hovione Innovation Challenge 2011 prize, the Prize of Coimbra University of 2016, and the prize of Technology Innovation - 2017 by the University of Porto. Presently, he is the Coordinator of CEner-FEUP, the Competence Center for Energy of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto.