Materials for energy and 3D printing laboratory

MATERIALES PARA LA ENERGÍA Y LABORATORIO DE IMPRESIÓN 3D: 3D-ENERMAT

Año de Formación
2008
Dirección
INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACION EN ENERGIAS RENOVABLES, PASEO DE LA INVESTIGACION 1. CAMPUS UNIVERSIATIO. 02071 ALBACETE
Teléfono
967599200 EXT:8202
FAX
967555321
Contacto
jesus.canales@uclm.es
RIS3
Las líneas de investigación de este grupo se alinean con la RIS3 de Castilla-La Mancha en los sectores siguientes:
  • medio ambiente y energía
  • tecnologías facilitadoras
Nuestro grupo de investigación ha centrado su actividad en los últimos 10 años en el desarrollo de materiales con aplicaciones en el sector de la Energía, fundamentalmente pilas de combustible y tecnología del hidrógeno. Debe destacarse que se trata de una de las líneas marcadas como prioritarias en la región en la RIS3. Además, el grupo puso en marcha en 2014 un laboratorio de impresión 3D, germen de la spin-off Print3D Solutions, creada por el grupo de investigación, dedicada al desarrollo de nuevos materiales y conceptos en impresión 3D. En Castilla-La Mancha, el desarrollo y aplicación de las TFEs, entre las que se encuentra la fabricación aditiva, es de baja intensidad y por ello se ha convertido en eje prioritario de cara al crecimiento económico y mejora de la competitividad. La actividad del grupo y de la spin-off está claramente alineados con esta estrategia.
Pertenece a Cytema

Presentation

The 3DENERMAT research group at University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) has a solid background in:

  • Development and characterisation of new materials.
  • Design, simulation and tests of Li/Na batteries and fuel cells, especially SOFCs.
  • 3D printing with specialist skills in:
    • Design and mechanical simulation of new 3D printing systems or components.
    • Manufacturing and optimization of new materials for 3D printing such as ceramic/metal FDM filaments, slurries for photopolymerisation techniques (SLA/DLP/LED) and robocasting or ceramic/organic inks for inkjet printing.
    • High capacity to supply 3D printing orders from public institutions or companies.

Contact & social

 

Twitter: @3DENERMAT  

Some examples of our research activity

Luminescence inks and inkjet system developed in our labs
SEM image of a ceramic catalyst made by 3D-FDM printing
Simulation of oxygen flux decay in a SOFC cell
Extrusion of ceramic filaments for 3D printing and winding process
3D-FDM printing farm with 16 industrial printers
Some 3D printed electrodes for Li batteries

3DENERMAT Skills

  • New materials for energy applications and 3D printing (filaments, resin and inks), especially ceramic materials. In addition, explore metals, composites, organic inks among others.
  • Design, simulation and test of innovative components of fuel cells (mainly SOFCs) and Li or Na batteries.
  • Development of 3D printing systems including FDM, photopolymerisation and inkjet with especial interest on energy and/or environment applications.
  • Materials characterisation: structural (electron microscopy, diffraction techniques and 3D scan in micrometric scale), electrochemistry, corrosion and thermal analysis.
  • Material quality control analysis: composition analysis, phase identification, corrosion and structure fail.
  • Ceramic material production: thin layers and coating (screen-printing, spin-coating, tape-casting, sputtering…).
  • Design and operation of fuel cells (especially SOFCs) and Li or Na batteries: component design, computer simulation and testing.
  • 3D printing for material manufacturing: filaments (polymers, ceramic or metallic), resin (polymers or loaded with ceramics or metals) and inks (organics/luminescent).
  • Industrial design of pieces: CAD/CAE design, close-range 3D scan and structural simulations.

CHARACTERIZATION

  • HRTEM Microscope (Jeol 2100) with EDS and STEM.
  • SEM Microscope (Jeol 6490LV).
  • XRD Diffractometers X’Pert Pro (monochromatic Cu and Co).
  • TGA-DTA/DSC 449 Jupiter Netzsch.
  • Dilatometer DIL 402-C Netzsch.
  • Pycnometer UltraPyc 1200e Quantachrome Inst.
  • DLS Zetasizer Nano ZS Malvern.
  • Solartron Cell Test Station (potentiostat/galvanostat and impedance, 8 canals).
  • Zahner IM6ex Workstation.
  • Automatic system for 4-point DC measurements.
  • Mass spectrometer (atmospheric) MKS Cirrus.
  • Tensile tests ZwickRoell Z010.
  • Hardness test (including microhardness).

PROCESSING

  • Multi-gas humidity generator Wetsys Setaram.
  • Work in controlled atmospheres: temperature (up to 1500ºC), humidity, diverse gases, mixture of gases…
  • Thermal treatments in muffle and tubular furnaces up to 2200ºC.
  • Ionic milling PIPS Gatan 691.
  • Planetary ball mill Fritsch Pulverisette.
  • Planetary centrifuge mill Thinky Are-250.
  • Freezer dryer Telstar Cryodos.
  • Coating with tape-caster, spray-coater, screen-printer, spin-coater, sputtering…
  • Polisher MetaServ 3000 Buehler.
  • High precision diamond saw Isomet Buehler.

3D PRINTING

  • +50 3D-FDM printers: large bed, multimaterial…
  • 5 resin printers (SLA/LED/DLP).
  • 1 robocasting/DIW system.
  • 1 3DP-Blue ONE inkjet system.
  • Hybrid printing technology: tape-caster/SLA, 3D airbrush…
  • Close-range 3D scan.
                                              

Spin off of UCLM

The 3DENERMAT group participated in a university entrepreneur project that led to the creation of the UCLM spin-off Prin3D Solutions in 2017. With the aim to generate a knowledge transfer tool for the research group activity, this company focuses on the development of new materials for 3D printing also explores the potential applications. Printed Solutions got the award “Premio a la Iniciativa Emprendedora” in the XVIII San Juan 2017 awards. In 2018, a capital investor in technology BeAble Capital joint the project and the company obtained a NEOTEC-CDTI (2018) research grant to develop 3D printed Li batteries among others, with the active collaboration of our group.