Graphene, Materials & Environment

The Electronics Unit is one of the three groups of CIEMAT that promote the use of 2D materials (specifically graphene) in some energy applications, whose main objective is to improve the efficiency of some systems to obtain energy and promote new forms of storage energetic. Specifically, the Electronics Unit, together with other CIEMAT groups and external partners, is currently participating in two funded projects related to graphene.

The GRAFAGEN project aims to improve the efficiency of heterojunction solar cells through the use of graphene as the main component of its electrical contacts. On the other hand, it studies the possibility of storing hydrogen safely and efficiently, by means of fisisorción, in graphene-based materials (graphene foams) for later use in fuel cells.

In the E-LIG-E project whose objective is the manufacture of a prototype portable fuel cell that can compete with the current Li-Po batteries, the use of graphene in the battery's output contacts is considered.

Currently, the possibility of participating in a project (PTOLEMY) that proposes the development of graphene-based sensors with a detection capacity not achieved so far and that would be a revolution in the world of the detection of minimally ionizing particles and more specifically in Particle Physics.