When it comes to battery and electric vehicle technologies, CINE researcher Hudson Zanin, 42, is one of the leading lights in Brazil – a reputation earned through solid scientific work and intense knowledge dissemination activities.

Hudson graduated in Physics from UFSCar in 2005. Seeking ways to apply his knowledge more directly, he completed a master’s and doctorate in Electrical Engineering at UNICAMP, with research projects in the area of ​​materials. In addition, his concern for widely disseminating scientific knowledge led him to take a specialization course in scientific journalism at Labjor – UNICAMP between 2008 and 2010, as well as to produce texts for blogs and videos for YouTube.

The focus on energy storage research began in 2012, during his postdoctoral studies, when Hudson had the opportunity to develop materials for supercapacitors at INPE and to unravel the electrochemistry of batteries and supercapacitors at the University of Bristol, in England.

In 2016, he became a Professor at UNICAMP in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and created his research group. Knowing that, in the field of ​​energy storage, he would have the skills and opportunities to make relevant contributions to society, the young researcher focused his team’s efforts on the development and optimization of batteries and supercapacitors.

In 2018, when CINE was created, Hudson joined the center’s Advanced Energy Storage (AES) division. In 2020, he created, within CINE, at UNICAMP, the first laboratory in South America dedicated to the manufacture of battery and supercapacitor prototypes, taking another step towards training professionals who are well-prepared to generate innovations in the industry. He later led the creation of the UNICAMP Battery Manufacturing, Validation and Certification Center, which was inaugurated last year.

To date, he has supervised more than 60 undergraduate, master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral research projects, which have generated dozens of scientific articles published in some of the most renowned international journals.

In recent years, Hudson has also been active in disseminating technical information related to the energy transition on his LinkedIn profile, which has more than 28 thousand followers. In addition, he has taught online courses on technologies for the energy transition and is frequently interviewed in podcasts and news articles on the subject.

Since 2024, Hudson Zanin has been the coordinator of the Advanced Energy Storage division at CINE. Based at UNICAMP, AES currently has more than 60 members (professors, postdoctoral fellows, and PhD, master’s, and undergraduate students) from several Brazilian universities to carry out research and development projects in new batteries, supercapacitors, ethanol reformers, and fuel cells.

In this interview, Professor Hudson talks a little about the challenges of AES division.

AES division has been studying and optimizing several types of batteries and supercapacitors. Why is it important to develop alternative or emerging energy storage technologies, such as sodium, sulfur, or lithium-air batteries?

What we really need are useful and effective technologies for advanced energy storage, especially given the growing challenge of incorporating renewable sources into the power grid. This challenge is intensified by the limited expansion of transmission and distribution networks. We are growing at a much faster pace in the implementation of new solar and wind power plants than in the construction of new transmission lines. This creates a constant difficulty in matching energy supply and demand.

Storing energy in batteries would be an ideal solution — if it weren’t for the high cost and the fact that Brazil currently has no battery factories in operation. As a result, we have become highly dependent on international suppliers, which compromises our energy security. Our system is still mostly hydroelectric, based on large basins, and urgently needs viable complementary solutions.

In the Advanced Energy Storage division, we are looking for emerging technologies that will allow Brazil to achieve energy independence and sovereignty. In other words, the country will not depend on foreign countries to consolidate its electricity sector. In this context, technologies such as redox flow batteries, sodium-ion batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, lithium-air batteries, supercapacitors, gas reformers and solid oxide fuel cells are becoming fundamental as viable options for energy storage in the near future.

What are the major scientific objectives of the AES research division and what are the main challenges that the program has to face to achieve these objectives?

Currently, in the second phase of CINE, the Advanced Energy Storage division is focused on the development of advanced materials and the study of modern and disruptive battery concepts, focusing on the first two years of the project. After this initial period, we will direct our efforts to the most promising technologies from a technical and economic point of view, improving the prototyping of devices and seeking to raise their technological maturity level (TRL) from 1-3 to 5-6.

With this advancement, we intend to increase the voltage and current of the devices, so that they can, in fact, be applied in engineering solutions. This will allow the development of systems such as BESS (battery energy storage systems), electric charging stations, energy converters and electrified vehicles.

In concrete terms, how can the results of the work of the AES division benefit society?

The greater share of industrialized technologies in GDP strengthens the generation of local wealth, boosts job creation and allows people to consume, buy and live with dignity.

In addition, we are talking about technologies that will allow greater integration of renewable sources — such as solar and wind — into the electrical grid, in addition to the development of systems that will also contribute to improving urban mobility and the transportation of people and cargo.

Therefore, the development of technologies that will be in use in the next 5 to 10 years is the main obsession of CINE’s Advanced Energy Storage division.

Learn more about CINE’s Advanced Energy Storage division.