Professor Carlos Ponce de León Albarrán BSc, MSc, MBA, PhD

Professor of Electrochemical Engineering, Coordinator of the MSc in Sustainable Energy Technologies

Carlos Ponce de León Albarrán is Professor of Electrochemical Engineering within Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Southampton.

His main research activities are in the areas of energy storage, water treatment, metal ion removal, characterization of novel electrode materials, electrochemical strategies for pollution control and redox flow cells for energy conversion. His research has been published in over 180 peer review papers in high impact factor journals and has industrial experience in quality control, data acquisition, fuel cells, analytical chemistry and metal recovery.

He currently coordinates the MSc in Sustainable Energy Technologies as well as teaching in several modules including:

Introduction to Energy Technologies,
Principles and Advanced Fuel Cells and Photovoltaic Systems,
Applications of Renewables and in Automotive Propulsion.

The MSc in Sustainable Energy Technologies was one of the first postgraduate programmes offered in energy technologies and has attracted students from different disciplines all over the world creating an interactive learning interdisciplinary space and an opportunity for the students to networking. The MSc touches multiple fields of science such as chemical engineering, chemistry, material sciences and mechanical and electrical engineering and focuses on promoting sustainable methods for energy generation and storage.

Research

Publications

Teaching

Contact

Research interests

borohydride fuel cells
aluminium air batteries
iron - air batteries
redox flow cells
- zinc - cerium
water treatment:
- metal recovery
- oxidation of organic compounds

Research group

Energy Technology

Research project(s)

Aluminium-air battery: study of three dimensional aluminium anode and air cathode for the development of high energy density battery for micro-UAVs

The project focusses on the electrochemical properties and energy capability of the aluminium – air battery system. This comprises the separate half-cells, including the aluminium anode and its alloys as well as the cathode materials for oxygen reduction and the electrolytes with and without additives. The project propose the construction of a structural three dimensional battery and it is based on a PhD project currently in the final stages.

Development of borohydride fuel cells

The direct borohydride fuel cell is a promising alternative for electrical power generation in large-scale and for portable equipment, such as laptop computers or mobile phones. Its predicted maximum energy density compared with other cells or batteries is higher but several drawbacks need to be overcome to reach that energy.

ELEVATE - ELEctrochemical Vehicle Advanced TEchnology (EP/M009394/1)

NECOBAUT: iron-air redox flow battery

Normally iron corrodes when exposed to air and humidity and has to be protected by painting it, using corrosion inhibitors or by passing a cathodic current through it (cathodic protection). These methods avoid the oxidation of iron into a rusty iron oxide. However, in this project, a novel investigation of the oxidation of iron, combined with the reduction of oxygen is used to generate energy.

Preparation and characterisation of a rechargeable battery based on a conductive polymer and aluminum in an ionic liquid electrolyte

Redox flow cells batteries: zinc - cerium

The project focusses on the electrochemical properties and energy capability of the zinc–cerium system, initially developed by Plurion Inc., which has a theoretical energy density of 463 kJ mol-1. This is larger than other redox flow systems such as the vanadium and iron-chromium systems and has one of the highest thermodynamic open-circuit cell voltages.

Scale up photoelectrochemical reactor using nanocatalytic material for environmental remediation

The purpose of this work is to manufacture self-organized oxide semiconductor nanotubes on a titanium alloy by electrochemical means. The anodised titanium is used as an anode in the degradation of organic pollutants in a photocatalytic reactor.

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Articles

Book Chapters

Albarrán, C. P. D. L., & Rodrigues, C. D. A. (2018). Synthesis of self-organized nanostructured oxide for photocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis application. In Advanced Materials and Systems for Electrochemical Technologies (pp. 175-210). Nova Science.
Nava, J. L., & Ponce de León, C. (2017). Reactor design for advanced oxidation processes. In Handbook of Environmental Chemistry (Vol. 61, pp. 263-286). (Handbook of Environmental Chemistry; Vol. 61). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2017_54
Li, X., Ponce de Leon, C., Walsh, F. C., Wills, R. G. A., & Pletcher, D. (2015). Zinc-based flow batteries for medium- and large-scale energy storage. In C. Menictas, M. Skyllas-Kazacos, & T. M. Lim (Eds.), Advances in Batteries for Medium and Large-Scale Energy Storage, 1st Edition Types and Applications (pp. 293-315). (Woodhead Publishing Series in Energy). Woodhead Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-1-78242-013-2.00008-X
Ponce de Leon, C., & Walsh, F. C. (2009). Secondary batteries - zinc systems: zinc-bromine. In C. Dyer, J. Garche, P. Moseley, Z. Ogumi, D. Rand, & B. Scrosati (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Electrochemical Power Sources (pp. 487-496). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-044452745-5.00856-X
Ponce de Leon, C., & Walsh, F. (2009). Sodium borohydride fuel cells. In C. K. Dyer, J. Garche, P. Moseley, Z. Ogumi, D. A. J. Rand, & B. Scrosati (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Electrochemical Power Sources (pp. 192-205). Elsevier.
Ponce-de-Leon, C., Kerr, C., & Walsh, F. C. (2006). Electroless plating for protection against wear. In B. G. Mellor (Ed.), Surface Coatings for Protection against Wear (pp. 184-224). Woodhead Publishing Ltd.

Conferences

Bryden, T. S., Cruden, A., Hilton, G., Dimitrov, B., Ponce De Leon Albarran, C., & Mortimer, A. (2016). Off-vehicle energy store selection for high rate EV charging station. In 6th Hybrid and Electric Vehicles Conference (HEVC 2016) Institution of Engineering and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1049/cp.2016.0986
Palmer, M. J., Musker, A. J., Roberts, G. T., & Ponce de Leon Albarran, C. A. (2010). A method of ranking candidate catalyst for the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide. Paper presented at Space Propulsion 2010, San Sebastian, Spain.
Ponce de Leon, C. (2010). Electrochemistry and Electrochemical Engineering (04 23103). Electrolysis and Electrolysers and redox flow cells, .
Ponce de Leon, C. (2010). Redox flow cells: principles, characteristics and challenges. 3rd Meeting of the Mexican Society of Electrochemistry, Mexico.

Letters/Editorials

Ponce De Leon Albarran, C. (2020). In-situ anodic generation of hydrogen peroxide. Nature Catalysis, 3(2), 96-97. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-020-0432-2
Arenas Martinez, L. F., Ponce De Leon Albarran, C., & Walsh, F. C. (2019). 3D porous metal electrodes: fabrication, characterisation and use. Current Opinion in Electrochemistry, 16, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coelec.2019.02.002
Walsh, F., Arenas Martinez, L. F., & Ponce De Leon Albarran, C. (2019). Developments in plane parallel flow channel cells. Current Opinion in Electrochemistry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coelec.2019.02.006

Reviews

Module title	Module code	Role
Principles of Photovoltaics, Fuel Cells and Batteries	FEEG6007	Module leader
Advanced Photovoltaics, Fuel Cells and Batteries	FEEG6008	Module leader
Introduction to Energy Technologies, Environment and Sustainability	SESG6041	Tutor
Applications of Renewable Energy, Storage and Nuclear Energy	SESM6043	Tutor
Automotive Propulsion	SESM6037	Tutor

Professor Carlos Ponce de León Albarrán
Engineering, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton. SO17 1BJ United Kingdom

Room Number NNN: 30/1002

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