The University of Trento features regularly among the top-ten italian institutions according to the ANVUR (National Agency for the evaluation of University and Research) Quality of Research report and according to the THE – Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
Proof of its international dimension is the ability to attract students and researchers from all over the world.
Its Department of Physics is a lively hub of scientific knowledge, home to several groups with expertise in different fields and at the centre of a wide net of national and international collaborations with both academic and industrial partners. In particular, the department has a tradition of quality research on renewable energy and environmental remediation with its IdEA (Hydrogen, Energy, Environment) group. The group hosts researchers, postdocs, graduate and undergraduate students with a range of expertise that covers design, fabrication, characterization and field-testing of materials, processes and equipments relevant in the energy and environmental fields.
Core skills relevant for Waste2Fresh include: (a) solar fuels: hydrogen production by solar-driven water splitting, (b) solar wastewater treatment, (c) solar concentrators design and fabrication, (d) hydrogen storage. In particular, the group has been leader or partner in several funded projects focused on hydrogen-based energy storage, covering a TRL range from 3 to 6.
Role in the project:
With expertise in solar concentrators and solar-to-hydrogen conversion, UNITN will be mainly involved in in Task 4.3, with the main roles of leading: (a) the design and implementation of the energy generation and storage unit and (b) testing for the use of concentrated sunlight in the photocatalysis process. It will also support WP2, WP6 and dissemination activities, providing technical expertise
Relevant Publications:
- Chunduri, A., Gupta, S., Bapat, O., Bhide, A., Fernandes, R., Patel, M.K., Bambole, V., Miotello, A., Patel, N. A unique amorphous cobalt-phosphide-boride bifunctional electrocatalyst for enhanced alkaline water-splitting (2019) Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 259, art. no. 118051. DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2019.118051
- Edla, R., Tonezzer, A., Orlandi, M., Patel, N., Fernandes, R., Bazzanella, N., Date, K., Kothari, D.C., Miotello, A. 3D hierarchical nanostructures of iron oxides coatings prepared by pulsed laser deposition for photocatalytic water purification (2017) Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 219, pp. 401-411. DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2017.07.063
- Maurizio C, Checchetto R, Trapananti A, Rizzo A, D’Acapito F, Miotello A. In Situ X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy-X-ray Diffraction Investigation of Nb-H Nanoclusters in MgH2 during Hydrogen Desorption. (2015) Journal of Physical Chemistry C: nanomaterials and interfaces, vol. 119, p. 7765-7770, ISSN: 1932-7447, doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b00252
- Orlandi, M., Caramori, S., Ronconi, F., Bignozzi, C.A., Koura, Z.E., Bazzanella, N., Meda, L., Miotello, A. Pulsed-laser deposition of nanostructured iron oxide catalysts for efficient water oxidation (2014) ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 6 (9), pp. 6186-6190. DOI: 10.1021/am501021e
- Eccher, M., Turrini, S., Salemi, A., Bettonte, M., Miotello, A., Brusa, R.S. Construction method and optical characterization of parabolic solar modules for concentration systems (2013) Solar Energy, 94, pp. 19-27. DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2013.04.028.
Relevant Projects:
- ERiCSol – Interdepartmental research area on renewable energy storage and solar fuels (https://projects.unitn.it/ericsol/projects_ericsol/) – Strategic project of the University of Trento. 2017;
- Project ENAM – Physics, Chemistry, Biotechnology for energy and the environment. Funded by CNR (Italian National Research Council) and PAT (Autonomous Province of Trento). 2015;
- Hydrogen from sun and water at the Adamello mountain hut – Funded by PAT (Autonomous Province of Trento). 2008;
- TEPSI – Technologies and processes for the transition to Hydrogen systems – Special Complementary Fund for research – ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) 2004;
- Hydrogen and materials science: Towards a new energy source – COFIN MIUR (Italian Ministry of University and Research). 2001.
Infrastructure & Equipment
UNITN’s capabilities to support DIY4U include in particular:
(1) Electro7H2 (Electro Power Systems). PEM Hydrogen Fuel Cell power system with a 5 kW output;
(2) Pressurized Water Electrolyser (Nitidor). Alkaline water electrolyser with a rated capacity of 2.0 Nm3/h, working with pressure up to 30 bar and input power up to 10 kW.
These equipments will allow preliminary testing to inform the design process for the solar hydrogen-based energy generation and storage system.
(3) parabolic-dish solar concentrator, total diameter of 5 m and overall projection area of about 20 m2. Designed and realized in-house (patent: Bettonte, M., Brusa, R.S., Miotello, A., 2008. Solar Concentrator, Method and Equipment for its Production. PCT/EP2007/011181).
This facility will be used to test the photocatalysis materials and process under concentrated sunlight conditions.
General support facilities available include:
(1) hydrogen storage lab equipped with a thermal desorption apparatus;
(2) materials fabrication lab equipped with: pulsed laser deposition, radio-frequency magnetron sputtering, Joule effect and electron gun evaporator;
(3) characterization lasboratories: scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, microRaman and infrared spectroscopy, UV-Visible, differential scanning calorimetry;
(4) electro- and photo-catalysis lab: potentiostat/galvanostat, photoreactors;
A general chemistry lab along with mechanical and electronics workshops are also available.