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Urbina Yeregui, Antonio

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Urbina Yeregui

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Antonio

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Ciencias

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0000-0002-3961-1007

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812288

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Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Sustainability of photovoltaic technologies in future net-zero emissions scenarios
    (Wiley, 2022) Urbina Yeregui, Antonio; Ciencias; Zientziak; Institute for Advanced Materials and Mathematics - INAMAT2
    Photovoltaic installed cumulative capacity reached 849.5 GW worldwide at the end of 2021, and it is expected to rise to 5 TW by 2030. The sustainability of this massive deployment of photovoltaic modules is analysed in this article. A literature review, completed with our own research for emerging technologies has been carried out following life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology complying with ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards. Different impact categories have been analysed for five commercial photovoltaic technologies comprising more than 99% of current market (crystalline silicon ~94% and thin film ~6%) and a representative of an emerging technology (hybrid perovskite). By using data from LCA inventories, a quantitative result for 15 impact categories has been calculated at midpoint and then aggregated in four endpoint categories of damage following ReCiPe pathways (global warming potential, human health damage, ecosystems damage and resources depletion) in order to enable a comparison to other renewable, fossil fuel and nuclear electricity production. In all categories, solar electricity has much lower impacts than fossil fuel electricity. This information is complemented with an analysis of the production of minerals with data from the British Geological Survey; the ratio of world production to photovoltaic demand is calculated for 2019 and projected to 2030, thus quantifying the potential risks arising from silver scarcity for c-Si technology, from tellurium for CdTe technology and from indium for CIGS and organic or hybrid emerging technologies. Mineral scarcity may pose some risk for CdTe and CIGS technologies, while c-Si based technology is only affected by silver dependence that can be avoided with other metals replacement for electrodes. When the risks grow higher, investment in recycling should boost the recovery ratio of minerals and other components from PV module waste.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Photovoltaic technology as a tool for ecosystem recovery: a case study for the Mar Menor coastal lagoon
    (Elsevier, 2024) Toledo, Carlos; Ramos Escudero, Adela; Serrano-Luján, Lucía; Urbina Yeregui, Antonio; Ciencias; Zientziak; Institute for Advanced Materials and Mathematics - INAMAT2
    A wide range of environmental impacts have been triggered worldwide by intensive agrarian production designed to maximize crop yields. The ecological crisis in the Mar Menor, Europe's largest salt-water lagoon, is an example of how changes in traditional farming practices have had a significant impact on the lagoon ecosystem. In this context, integrated photovoltaic systems can potentially alleviate the pressure for land resources while also contributing to sustainable land use and reducing eutrophication in the lagoon. The case study is an example of balance between two United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Zero hunger (SDG 2) and Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7) achieved by sharing land occupation and additionally obtaining an ecosystem restoration, linked to SDGs 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) and 13 (Climate Action). Based on official information and literature studies on watering, fertilizing needs, and production, we developed an approach for combining geographical data with estimates of the environmental benefits of photovoltaic integrated solutions. The results show that up to 1377 tonnes/year of nitrate fertilizer can be avoided, and water use can be reduced by up to 27 Hm3/year, depending on the distributed photovoltaic power scenario selected. Likewise, the installed capacity of ground-mounted, agrivoltaic, greenhouse-mounted, and floating photovoltaic systems varies from 54 GWp, 16 GWp, 0.4 GWp, and 0.6 GWp, respectively.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Graphene oxide: key to efficient charge extraction and suppression of polaronic transport in hybrids with poly (3-hexylthiophene) nanoparticles
    (American Chemical Society, 2023) Colom, Eduardo; Hernández-Ferrer, Javier; Galán-González, Alejandro; Ansón-Casaos, Alejandro; Navarro-Rodríguez, Mario; Palacios-Lidón, Elisa; Colchero, Jaime; Padilla, Javier; Urbina Yeregui, Antonio; Arenal, Raúl; Benito, Ana M.; Maser, Wolfgang K.; Ciencias; Zientziak; Institute for Advanced Materials and Mathematics - INAMAT2
    Nanoparticles (NPs) of conjugated polymers in intimate contact with sheets of graphene oxide (GO) constitute a promising class of water-dispersible nanohybrid materials of increased interest for the design of sustainable and improved optoelectronic thin-film devices, revealing properties exclusively pre-established upon their liquid-phase synthesis. In this context, we report for the first time the preparation of a P3HTNPs-GO nanohybrid employing a miniemulsion synthesis approach, whereby GO sheets dispersed in the aqueous phase serve as a surfactant. We show that this process uniquely favors a quinoid-like conformation of the P3HT chains of the resulting NPs well located onto individual GO sheets. The accompanied change in the electronic behavior of these P3HTNPs, consistently confirmed by the photoluminescence and Raman response of the hybrid in the liquid and solid states, respectively, as well as by the properties of the surface potential of isolated individual P3HTNPs-GO nano-objects, facilitates unprecedented charge transfer interactions between the two constituents. While the electrochemical performance of nanohybrid films is featured by fast charge transfer processes, compared to those taking place in pure P3HTNPs films, the loss of electrochromic effects in P3HTNPs-GO films additionally indicates the unusual suppression of polaronic charge transport processes typically encountered in P3HT. Thus, the established interface interactions in the P3HTNPs-GO hybrid enable a direct and highly efficient charge extraction channel via GO sheets. These findings are of relevance for the sustainable design of novel high-performance optoelectronic device structures based on water-dispersible conjugated polymer nanoparticles.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Nanoparticles of poly(3-hexylthiophene): toward a solvent-independent performance of electrochromic films
    (Elsevier, 2023) Cánovas-Saura, Antonio; Colom, Eduardo; Padilla, Javier; Urbina Yeregui, Antonio; Maser, Wolfgang K.; Benito, Ana M.; Ciencias; Zientziak; Institute for Advanced Materials and Mathematics - INAMAT2
    Nanoparticles of poly(3-hexylthiophene), P3HT(NP), uniquely enable the preparation of stable dispersions in environmentally-friendly media and thus offer a sustainable liquid phase fabrication of electrochromic device structures. In this work, we assess the electrochromic performance of P3HT(NP) films spray-coated from either tetrahydrofuran (THF)-water or chloroform (CHCl3)-ethanol dispersions on ITO substrates. The nanoparticle films exhibit consistent and reproducible high optical contrast values of around 50 %, t90-switching speeds of about 0.45 s and a cycling stability of approximately 200 cycles for a 20 % performance retention, independent of the solvent being used. Conversely, non-nanostructured P3HT films spray-coated from THF or CHCl3 reveal a strong solvent dependent variability in their electrochromic behavior presenting low optical contrast, high switching speeds and fast degradation rates in the case of CHCl3. The solvent independent electrochromic characteristics of P3HT nanoparticle films is related to a consistent availability of accessible electroactive sites provided by a homogeneous porous P3HT network structure formed on the underlying substrate, as probed by SEM and profilometric studies. Our findings reveal that the use of nanoparticles of P3HT and its environmentally benign liquid phase processing, a concept which is extendable to other electrochromic polymers, opens a sustainable pathway toward the large-area fabrication of electrochromic device structures with favorable and consistent performance parameters.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Polycaprolactone/MSMA composites for magnetic refrigeration applications
    (Wiley, 2024-09-06) Sánchez-Alarcos Gómez, Vicente; Khanna, Deepali; La Roca, Paulo Matías; Recarte Callado, Vicente; Lambri, Fernando Daniel; Bonifacich, Federico Guillermo; Lambri, Osvaldo Agustín; Royo Silvestre, Isaac; Urbina Yeregui, Antonio; Pérez de Landazábal Berganzo, José Ignacio; Ciencias; Zientziak; Institute for Advanced Materials and Mathematics - INAMAT2
    A high filling load (62% weight) printable magnetic composite has been elaborated from the dispersion of magnetocaloric Ni45Mn36.7In13.3Co5 metamagnetic shape memory alloy microparticles into a PCL polymer matrix. The composite material has been prepared by solution method, resulting in a very homogeneous particles dispersion into the matrix. The structural transitions in the polymer are not affected by the addition of the metallic microparticles, which in turn results in a significant increase of the mechanical consistency. The good ductility of the elaborated composite allows its extrusion in flexible printable filaments, from which 3D pieces with complex geometries have been grown. The heat transfer of the composite material has been assessed from finite element simulation. In spite of the achievable magnetocaloric values are moderated with respect to the bulk, numerical simulations confirm that, in terms of heat transference, a PCL/Ni-Mn-In-Co wire is more efficient than a bulk Ni-Mn-In-Co cubic piece containing the same amount of magnetic active material. The quite good magnetocaloric response of the composite and the possibility to print high surface/volume ratio geometries make this material a promising candidate for the development of heat exchangers for clean and efficient magnetic refrigeration applications.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Accurate thermal prediction model for building-integrated photovoltaics systems using guided artificial intelligence algorithms
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2022) Serrano-Luján, Lucía; Toledo, Carlos; Colmenar, José Manuel; Abad, José; Urbina Yeregui, Antonio; Zientziak; Institute for Advanced Materials and Mathematics - INAMAT2; Ciencias
    Progress in development of building-integrated photovoltaic systems is still hindered by the complexity of the physics and materials properties of the photovoltaic (PV) modules and its effect on the thermal behavior of the building. This affects not only the energy generation, as its active function and linked to economic feasibility, but also the thermal insulation of the building as part of the structure's skin. Traditional modeling methods currently presents limitations, including the fact that they do not account for material thermal inertia and that the proposed semi-empirical coefficients do not define all types of technologies, mounting configuration, or climatic conditions. This article presents an artificial intelligence-based approach for predicting the temperature of a poly-crystalline silicon PV module based on local outdoor weather conditions (ambient temperature, solar irradiation, relative outdoor humidity and wind speed) and indoor comfort parameters (indoor temperature and indoor relative humidity) as inputs. A combination of two algorithms (Grammatical Evolution and Differential Evolution) guides to the creation of a customized expression based on the Sandia model. Different data-sets for a fully integrated PV system were tested to demonstrate its performance on three different types of days: sunny, cloudy and diffuse, showing relative errors of less than 4% in all cases and including night time. In comparison to Sandia model, this method reduces the error by up to 11% in conditions of variability of sky over short time intervals (cloudy days).