SPIRIT
SPIRIT team comprises 1 university, 3 research centers, and 1 SME to develop the next generation of energy storage devices, a solid-state Potassium-ion battery (TRL4) based on safe, sustainable, and cost-competitive anode, cathode, and novel polymer electrolyte materials.
Meet The Team
SPIRIT´s Principal Investigators
SPIRIT´s Reseach team
Prof. Jesús Prado Gonjal
Microwave synthesis specialist at UCM
Dr. Daniel Jardón Alvarez
ssNMR expert at WIS
Dr. Marianella Hernández
Polymer specialist at ICTP-CSIC
Prof. David Ávila Brande
Electron Microscopy specialist at UCM
Dr. Raquel Verdejo
Polymer Physicist specialist at ICTP-CSIC
Prof. Miguel A. López Manchado
Polymer Composite expert at ICTP-CSIC
SPIRIT´s PhD, Master and Undergraduate Students
Alejandro Ares
PhD Candidate
Alejandro just started his PhD at ICTP-CSIC, under the supervision of Dr. Jvier Carretero developing sustainable solid polymer electrolyes for SPIRIT´s K-ion batteries.
PhD Candidate
Yuval is a PhD candidate at Weizmann Institute under the supervision of Dr. Michal Leskes, using solid state NMR to understand SPIRIT´s batteries
PhD Candidate
Jinyu Chen is a PhD candidate at KIT-HIU under the supervision of Dr. Maider Zarrabeitia.
Victor Durán Egido
PhD Candidate
Víctor Durán Egido finished his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 2022. His final degree project about “Structure/Electrochemical insertion relationships in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)” was carried out straddling between UCM and the Polymer Science and Technology Institute (ICTP-CSIC). After completing his Master’s Degree in Chemical Science and Technology, Nanoscience and Nanomaterials at UCM, he is currently doing his PhD with Dr. Elizabeth Castillo Martínez and Dr. Javier Carretero González. His main scientific interests include supramolecular chemistry and the development of sustainable coordination polymers with potential applications in energy storage and conversion.
PhD Candidate
Juan Andrés is a PhD candidate at Universidad Complutense under the supervision of Dr. Elizabeth Castillo-Martínez and Dr. Jesús Prado-Gonjal, working on sustainable oxide based anode materials for KIBs produced through low cost routes.
Marta Santos Rodríguez
PhD student
Marta Santos Rodriguez finished her Chemical Engineer Degree at University of Valladolid in 2022. After that, she collaborated with the Institute of Sustainable Process working in biodegradation of water pollutants.
Then, she enrolled in an MSc in “Chemical Engineering: Process Engineering” at Universidad Complutense de Madrid doing her master’s project about “Characterization of polymer membranes with intrinsic microporosity for redox flow batteries”, under the supervision of Dr. Javier Carretero Gonzalez at the ICPT-CSIC. Her PhD topic focus on building up advanced ion conducting polymer membranes for sustainable energy storage applications.
Wisal Hilal
Graduate student
Wisal finished her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry in 2023 and completed a Masters in Applied Chemistry in 2024 in Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM). Her current theme of research consists of developing MOFs for sustainable potassium ion batteries. These materials are known for their porous structure that allows the storage of potassium ions. Their synthesis is based on precipitation methods and for their characterization, techniques such as XRD, IR and fluorescence are used. If we complement these techniques with tests that allow us to define the electrochemical properties of these materials, we can analyze the changes in their structure during redox processes as well as their potential application in batteries, marking a future transition towards the sustainable storage of energy.
Former members
Soheila Ebrhimi visited Universidad Complutense de Madrid for a research stay under the supervision of Dr. Elizabeth Castillo-Martínez, optimizing the electrochemical performance of Prussian White cathodes. After her PhD viva in Iran she returned to continue exploring Prussian White as a post-doctoral researcher in 2023. She is now a postdoctoral researcher at IMDEA
Paloma Grande Fernández studied Chemistry at Universidad Complutense de Madrid. She carried out her final year research project studying the intercalation of alkali metal ions in metal-organic frameworks.
Aditya Khadilkar is a Mechanical Engineer and is currently studying Master's in Energy Science and Technology at the University of Ulm. He is also working as a student Research assistant at Helmholtz Institut Ulm (HIU). He is currently in the last year of his degree, and his final project is related to the study of the characterization of hard carbon for anodes from Biowaste precursor for Potassium batteries.”
Angela Tejero got her chemistry degree in 2023. She studied the master in Chemical Science and Technology at Univ. Complutense. She did her master thesis under the supervision of Dr. Elizabeth Castillo Martínez and Dr. Jesús Prado Gonjal to develop manganesse oxides produced through mild synthesis conditions for energy applications.
Pouria Nazari has majored in Materials Science and Engineering for both his Bachelor's and Master's in Metals Extraction specialization. His Scientific path in the field of batteries began with his master's thesis which he worked on recycling Li-ion batteries and recovering its graphite. He spent a few months at KIT-HIU under the supervision of Dr. Maider Zarrabeitia by working on Hard carbon for Potassium-ion batteries
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Michele Jaramillo-Trujillo completed her Chemistry degree at Universidad Complutense de Madrid. She undertook her final year research project in the developement of sustainable anode materials for potassium ion batteries.
Positions available
We are always open to hosting enthusiastic students to join one of our research laboratories and supporting them in applying for PhD scholarships.
Moreover there might be some open positions now if listed below:
Partner Institutions
EU Funding Agencies
