Development and analysis of multifunctional materials and devices for light emitting and photoelectrochemical applications, electrochemical sensing, and bifacial photovoltaic technology

Pillar I: Wide-bandgap semiconductors To develop a continuous flow photoelectrochemical electrolyzer to perform photoanode-driven NO reduction on Cu2O dark cathodes at a lower operating cell voltage obtaining a better Faradaic and energy efficiency. Pillar II: 2D materials The general objective of this pillar is the production of MAX films by magnetron sputtering. Thin films library will be produced with a variation of different concentrations of the elements M, A and X to obtain the optimal composition and thus improve the MXenos synthesis process. A second step is the production of the MXenes by varying the acid treatment parameters such as time and acid concentration. Electrochemical electrode modification with MXenes is the most promising approach to improve sensitivity, selectivity, analyte adhesion, and detection limits in electrochemical detection devices (sensors). Due to such reasons, nanomaterialbased electrochemical (bio)sensors have attracted enormous attention in recent years for the detection of a variety of analytes. In this sense, a last stage of the project would be the evaluation of the use of electrodes based on MXenes in electrochemical sensors for the detection and quantification of biomolecules (eg. neurotransmitters, glucose). It seeks to understand how the synthesis parameters of the MAX phases as well as that of the MXenos films could affect their performance as an electrode in said sensors for the detection of biomolecules of importance for human health. Pillar III: Bifacial PV system The general objective of the pillar pursues the experimental study of the impact of the main operating conditions on the energy production of photovoltaic systems connected to the grid (SFCR) based on bifacial technology. The conditions to be studied are the distance between the fixed-angle photovoltaic modules to the ground, the reflection and albedo properties of the ground, as well as the inhomogeneities of the irradiance received by the back side.