Issue 7 – August 17, 2021

RESEARCH

CINE researchers and collaborators carried out a complete study of a semiconductor material that had been little investigated, with the aim of using it as a cathode for the photoelectrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide into commercially valuable compounds. The material is based on earth-abundant elements and was synthesized using a simple method.

• Go to the paper in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

• Read the news story on CINE website.

REVIEWS

Review article written by CINE members discusses the different ways of producing hydrogen, which is considered an important fuel of the future. The authors analyze the environmental impact of hydrogen production considering the raw material, energy source and catalysts used in each process. The article presents forecasts for the hydrogen market and brings good news: the cleanest process will be cheaper than the most polluting one in 2050.

• Go to the paper in Advanced Energy & Sustainability Research.

RESEARCH

CINE researchers and collaborators studied the addition of different proportions of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) to mixed-halide perovskites for solar cells active layers. Using the GIWAXS technique at the Brazilian National Synchrotron Light Laboratory, scientists were able to understand the influence of RGO on film formation mechanisms. The graphene derivative delayed the perovskite crystallization, generating a material with a differentiated morphology, which increased the stability of solar cells.

• Go to the paper in Journal of Materials Chemistry C.

RESEARCH

CINE team presents a computational method that enables the study of clusters of atoms with more than one element, whose quantum effects can generate unique properties for applications in new energies. The method combines Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations, which describe these clusters well but consume a lot of computational time and cost, with Machine Learning, which allows choosing the most promising combinations of atoms to be investigated by DFT.

• Go to paper in Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling.

CINE’s Advanced Energy Storage (AES) Division announces the approval of a project within a Brazilian program for the development of the automotive industry. AES researchers will develop fuel cells and two types of batteries for ethanol-powered electric vehicles. The project has the support of companies in the automotive sector.

• Read the news story on CINE website.

The Center for Innovation on New Energies (CINE) is pleased to invite you for the second edition of its Conference, to be held online on October 6 to 8, 2021.This event will provide participants with a comprehensive view of CINE activities and research results, and their role in developing new technologies for the present energy transition. Attendees will have the opportunity to attend and discuss short presentations from CINE members, founders and partners, addressing some of the most urgent needs facing global environment protection. This is a free online conference, open to all audiences.

CINE Talk
Title: Ceramic Membranes – CO2 Capture.
Speaker: Prof Dr Reginaldo Muccillo (IPEN).
When: August 20 at 10 am.
Where: on CINE YouTube.
Registration (free): through this form (until August 18).

The workshop of CINE’s Computational Materials Science and Chemistry (CMSC) Division brought together around 60 people from Brazil, Algeria, Bangladesh, Colombia and India.
Over 5 days, there were 30 presentations by researchers and undergraduate and graduate students showing, mainly, the results obtained in the first 3 years of the CMSC. The event provided scientific discussions among all members of the division, generating new opportunities for collaboration and consolidation of ongoing projects.

This event, promoted by CINE’s education and dissemination sector (EDK) brought to CINE members an awareness of the power of audio, an introduction to the possibilities that podcasts offer, equipment and program tips for all stages of podcast production and training on how to use them.

Professor Ana Flavia Nogueira (UNICAMP), director of CINE and researcher in the Dense Energy Carriers Division, presented at the event an invited lecture on the differential of in situ experiments for the study of perovskite-based materials. She was the only person from an institution in Latin America among dozens of invited speakers.

CINE has a page which gathers all its links (social networks and website). Discover and use CINE´s Linktree.