Angel Irabien

Angel Irabien
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Angel verified their affiliation via an institutional email.
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Angel verified their affiliation via an institutional email.
University of Cantabria | UNICAN · Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

PhD Sciences (Chemistry) UPV/EHU 1982
Full Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cantabria (Santander, Spain)

About

547
Publications
153,745
Reads
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16,635
Citations
Additional affiliations
July 1991 - present
University of Cantabria
Position
  • Professor
Description
  • Head of department as full professor
June 2016 - June 2016
Sapienza University of Rome
Position
  • Invited Professor
Description
  • Erasmus* teching course on waste management
May 2016 - May 2016
Tashkent Chemical-Technological Institute
Position
  • Invited Professor
Description
  • Long-life learning Chemical Technology university professors
Education
October 1977 - February 1982
University of the Basque Country
Field of study
  • Chemical Engineering
October 1971 - June 1976
University of the Basque Country
Field of study
  • Chemistry

Publications

Publications (547)
Article
The most challenging deal we face these years is the need to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and tackle climate change; though calls to reduce it are growing louder yearly, emissions remain high. CO 2 is the key contributor. For this reason, the synthesis of high-added-value products from CO 2 conversion is a promising approach to mitigate the...
Article
Full-text available
This research is a significant step forward in understanding how the electrochemical cell setup influences CO2 conversion. The performance of Cu–Zn–Al metal oxide-based catalysts was compared in two reactor configurations: a gas diffusion electrode (GDE) cell with an aqueous electrolyte and a Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) cell operating in the...
Article
Decarbonising chemical vectors used for transportation is a top priority for Europe to become carbon-neutral by 2050. Recent EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED) emphasizes the urgency of adopting renewable fuels...
Article
Full-text available
The development of emerging decarbonization technologies requires advanced tools for decision-making that incorporate the environmental perspective from the early design. Today, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the preferred tool to promote sustainability in the technology development, identifying environmental challenges and opportunities and defini...
Article
Carbon dioxide capture, storage, and utilization is nowadays considered one of the most interesting approaches to reduce emissions to the atmosphere and, therefore, to mitigate climate change. In this sense, the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to value-added products is gaining attention, since it permits storing excess of energy from r...
Article
The energy transition's success hinges on the effectiveness to curbing carbon emissions from hard-to-abate sectors. Hydrogen (H2) has been proposed as the candidate vector that could be used to replace fossils in such energy-intensive industries. Despite green H2 via solar-powered water electrolysis being a reality today, the overall defossilizatio...
Article
Full-text available
CO2 electroreduction has been considered a promising alternative to simultaneously reduce CO2 emissions and produce value-added products. Among others, the production of formic acid/formate is particularly attractive. Although promising results have already been obtained in the literature, one of the recent approaches to improve the process deals w...
Article
Full-text available
The study of the electrochemical CO2 reduction to obtain formate (HCOO–) or formic acid (HCOOH) is receiving much attention as a promising technology. Since continuous–mode operation has become necessary for practical implementation of electrochemical CO2 reduction, recent years have seen a rapid increase in the number of research approaches focusi...
Article
This is a paper dealing with electrodes manufacture using spray pyrolisis. The gas diffussion electrodes are based on mixed materials including polymers carbon anfd metals. An statistical analysis has been performed in order to describe the system.
Article
Full-text available
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the single largest contributor to climate change due to its increased emissions since global industrialization began. Carbon Capture, Storage, and Utilization (CCSU) is regarded as a promising strategy to mitigate climate change, reducing the atmospheric concentration of CO2 from power and industrial activities. Post-combust...
Chapter
The role of carbon dioxide in our changing climate is now hard to ignore, and many countries are making pledges to reduce or eliminate their carbon output. Chemical valorisation of carbon dioxide, as an alternative to sequestration, is likely to play an important part in reaching these targets, and as such is one of the fastest developing areas of...
Article
CO2 electroreduction to formic acid and formate has been focus of great research attention in the last years. Thus, considerable and relevant efforts have been accomplished in this field, mainly by operating with different types of catalysts and electrode configurations in the cathodic compartment. Still, Pt-based anodes, which are expensive and sc...
Article
Full-text available
Green hydrogen—a carbon-free renewable fuel—has the capability to decarbonise a variety of sectors. The generation of green hydrogen is currently restricted to water electrolysers. The use of freshwater resources and critical raw materials, however, limits their use. Alternative water splitting methods for green hydrogen generation via photocatalys...
Article
Full-text available
This work explores the potential of novel renewable materials in electrode fabrication for the electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) to ethylene in alkaline media. In this regard, the use of the renewable chitosan (CS) biopolymer as ion-exchange binder of the copper (Cu) electrocatalyst nanoparticles (NPs) is compared with commercial a...
Article
Full-text available
Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage technologies are essential mitigation options to reach net-zero CO2 emissions. However, this challenge requires the development of sustainable and economic separation technologies. This work presents a novel CO2 capture technology strategy based on non-dispersive CO2 absorption and membrane vacuum regeneration...
Article
Slowing down climate change requires urgent measures, and consequently, one of the main challenges of the scientific community is to develop innovative technologies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere. Non-dispersive CO2 absorption using ionic liquids (ILs) as solvent and membrane vacuum regeneration (MVR) as desorption step are co...
Article
In this paper we conducted a life cycle assessment to evaluate the environmental performance of the valorization of spent pickling acid (SPA) generated in the hot-dip galvanizing (HDG) process. We analyzed the environmental impacts of treating one m 3 of SPA, comparing the reference treatment consisting of neutralization, precipitation, stabilizati...
Article
Full-text available
The doping of zirconium based EHU-30 and EHU-30-NH2 metal–organic frameworks with copper(II) yielded a homogeneous distribution of the dopant with a copper/zirconium ratio of 0.04–0.05. The doping mechanism is analysed by chemical analysis, microstructural analysis and pair distribution function (PDF) analysis of synchrotron total scattering data i...
Article
A series of CuBi catalysts were prepared with different Bi loadings and tested for the electrochemical reduction of CO2 (ERCO2). The developed catalysts were tested on a filter-press cell, and the influence of the catholyte on the catalytic performance was assessed. Catalyst #20C was found to be very selective for formate production, with an Farada...
Article
Production of alternative CO2-based products may play a major role in decoupling fossil resources to the economy's needs. CO2hydrogenation is one of the most readily operational CO2conversion pathways to produce chemicals. Beyond this, electrochemical, photoelectrochemical, and photochemical CO2conversion routes have gained attention as long-term d...
Article
Full-text available
Capture and utilization of industrial CO2 emissions into low-carbon fuels is a promising alternative to store renewable electricity into chemical vectors while decarbonizing the economy. This work evaluates the viability pathways of producing synthetic natural gas (SNG) by direct CO2 electroreduction (ER) in Power-To-Synthetic Natural Gas electroly...
Article
The photoelectrochemical conversion of CO2 into valuable products represents an attractive alternative to decrease the external electrical bias required in electrochemical approaches. In this work, TiO2 nanoparticles are synthesized in supercritical medium (SC-TiO2) to manufacture light-responsive photoanodes with enhanced optical properties, large...
Article
Shipping is a very important source of pollution worldwide. In recent years, numerous actions and measures have been developed trying to reduce the levels of greenhouse gases (GHG) from the marine exhaust emissions in the fight against climate change, boosting the Sustainable Development Goal 13. Following this target, the action of hydrogen as ene...
Article
Full-text available
Current decarbonization pressures are prompting efforts to reimagine the future of the hard-to-abate cement sector. To date, fuel switching has arisen as the most readily operational strategy, and its application in the cement sector is expected in the short to midterm. However, around two-thirds of the cement CO2 emissions come from the calcinatio...
Article
The carbon dioxide (CO 2) electroreduction to formate is nowadays considered as a promising approach to convert CO 2 into a value-added product and simultaneously, in the context of strategies for mitigating climate change. However, there is a scarce number of studies published in the literature operating with a current density higher than 200 mA c...
Article
Full-text available
Climate change, globalization or marine debris are on the spot of concerns for the most society. Particularly, fisheries are impacted by these and other issues. On the framework of the European Atlantic area, NEPTUNUS project (EAPA_576_2018) tries to provide opportunities for the transition to the circular economy of the seafood and aquaculture sec...
Article
A novel modelling and simulation framework on CO2 desorption process from post-combustion CO2 capture was developed by a coupled membrane vacuum regeneration technology (MVR) and four imidazolium ionic liquids (ILs) with remarkably different viscosity values. The ILs 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([emim][Ac]), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acet...
Article
SnO2 nanoparticles (NPs) as electrocatalyst for the production of formate from CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). We synthesize, characterize and evaluate high surface area SnO2 NPs (2.4 nm and 299 m² g⁻¹ in diameter size and surface area, respectively), for the continuous production of formate at high current density within a flow electrolyzer. SnO2...
Article
The global agenda is undoubtedly determined by the planetary success of achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Both public and private institutions show great efforts towards the full integration of the SDGs in their own agendas. Ultimately, national governments are responsible for the effective budget allocation for sustainable develo...
Article
Unclosed coastal landfills in small island developing states are major sources of greenhouse gases and other environmental impacts. This is a major problem for sustainable waste management systems mainly due to the lack of economic resources. The clean development mechanism (CDM) appears as a possibility to facilitate sustainable financing. Impleme...
Chapter
The utilization of CO2 can be grouped into three main categories: technological utilization, enhanced biological utilization, and production of chemicals and fuels. This chapter provides the basic principles of the electro-, photo-, and photoelectrochemical processes for CO2 conversion, taking mainly into consideration the applied catalytic materia...
Article
Renewable-driven CO2 recycling plants (CO2RPs) to produce chemicals have a certain role to play in the decarbonization of the economy. In recent years, significant progress has been found for the...
Article
Full-text available
Membrane technology is a simple and energy-conservative separation option that is considered to be a green alternative for CO2 capture processes. However, commercially available membranes still face challenges regarding water and chemical resistance. In this study, the effect of water and organic contaminants in the feed stream on the CO2/CH4 separ...
Article
A highly efficient copper-catalyst (noble-metal free) was developed for the electrochemical reduction of CO2 (ERCO2) to methanol. Due to the nanowire structure of the catalyst, a remarkable ERCO2 selectivity was achieved, while the competing H2 evolution reaction (HER) was significantly suppressed for the overall range of potential tested. The deve...
Article
Hot-dip galvanisation (HDG) is the method most commonly used to protect steel surfaces from corrosion. However, HDG involves very intensive consumption of energy and resources. This paper aims to evaluate the environmental performance and hotspots in the Spanish HDG sector using cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA). Two Spanish HDG industrial...
Article
Full-text available
Fossil fuels are being progressively substituted by a cleaner and more environmentally friendly form of energy, where hydrogen fuel cells stand out. However, the implementation of a competitive hydrogen economy still presents several challenges related to economic costs, required infrastructures, and environmental performance. In this context, the...
Article
Full-text available
The chemistry and electrochemistry basic fields have been active for the last two decades of the past century studying how the modification of the electrodes’ surface by coating with conductive thin films enhances their electrocatalytic activity and sensitivity. In light of the development of alternative sustainable ways of energy storage and carbo...
Article
Full-text available
The primary energy panorama in the European Union is still dominated by a significant share of fossil fuels in the form of coal, natural gas and oil. As a result, an ecological transition is encouraged in order to curb the related CO2 emissions from fossil fuels thus providing an alignment with the Paris Agreement. In the light of a renewable domin...
Article
Full-text available
Climate change has become one of the most important challenges in the 21st century, and the electroreduction of CO2 to value-added products has gained increasing importance in recent years. In this context, formic acid or formate are interesting products because they could be used as raw materials in several industries as well as promising fuels in...
Article
The electrochemical conversion of CO2 is gaining increasing attention because it could be considered as an appealing strategy for making value-added products at mild conditions from CO2 captured. In this work, we report a process for the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to formate (HCOO-) operating in a continuous way, employing a single pass of t...
Article
Full-text available
In this work, the membrane vacuum regeneration (MVR) process was considered as a promising technology for solvent regeneration in post-combustion CO2 capture and utilization (CCU) since high purity CO2 is needed for a technical valorization approach. First, a desorption test by MVR using polypropylene hollow fiber membrane contactor (PP-HFMC) was c...
Preprint
Full-text available
The chemistry and electrochemistry basic fields have been active since the last two decades of the past century studying how surface modification of electrodes by coating with conductive films enhances their activity and performance. In the light of the development of alternative sustainable ways of energy storage and carbon dioxide conversion by e...
Article
This study demonstrates the coupling of Ionic liquids (ILs) with a membrane contactor for post-combustion CO2 capture at moderate pressures and temperatures. ILs 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium methyl sulfate([emim][MeSO4]), 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide([emim][DCA]), 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethyl sulfate([emim][EtSO4]) and 1-ethyl-3-meth...
Article
Decarbonizing the so-called “hard-to-abate” sectors is considered more technically challenging than others such as energy or transportation since they entail emissions not only from heat and power generation but also from manufacturing and process industries. The opportunities for them are less obvious and the challenges are greater so their shift...
Article
Full-text available
The use of bismuth‐based catalysts is promising for formate production by the electroreduction of CO2 captured from waste streams. However, compared to the extensive research on catalysts, only a few studies have focused on electrochemical reactor performance. Hence, this work studied a continuous‐mode gas–liquid–solid reaction system for investiga...
Article
Improving the food supply chain efficiency has been identified as an essential means to enhance food security, while reducing pressure on natural resources. Adequate food loss and waste (FLW) management has been proposed as an approach to meet these objectives. The main hypothesis of this study is to consider that the “strong fluctuations and short...
Article
A membrane gas CO2 capture setup, based on the concept of single module absorption and single cycle coupled absorption/desorption, was developed in this work. Ionic liquids (ILs) 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium methylsulfate ([emim][MS]) and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide ([emim][DCA]) were used as absorbents. The CO2 absorption rate decreased...
Article
Electromembrane technologies, such as electrodialysis with bipolar membranes (EDBM) have been widely proposed for the treatment and valorization of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) concentrated streams. The EDBM technology applied to brines produces acids (HCl) and bases (NaOH) with just two inputs: electric energy and brine. Thus, the reagents self...
Article
Full-text available
Lignin is one of the three main components of lignocellulosic biomass and must be considered a raw material with attractive applications from an economic and ecological point of view. Therefore, biorefineries must have in mind the most adequate processing to obtain high-quality lignin and the separation tasks that play a key role to improve the pur...
Article
To optimize the environmental performance and the conflicting economic interests of the main stakeholders that interact within circular integrated waste management systems (CIWMSs), life cycle analysis and a game theoretical model – based on the Stackelberg equilibrium – were integrated into a multi-objective optimization framework. The framework w...
Article
The European seafood and aquaculture sectors are facing important challenges in terms of environmental threats (climate change, marine debris, resources depletion), social development (worker rights, consumer's awareness) or economic growth (market and nonmarket goods and services, global competitiveness). These issues are forcing all stakeholders,...
Article
Full-text available
BACKGROUND The recycling of CO2 by photoelectrochemical reduction has attracted wide interest due to its potential benefits when compared to electro‐ and photo‐catalytic approaches. Among the various available semiconductors, TiO2 is the most employed material in photoelectrochemical cells. Besides, Cu is a well‐known electrocatalyst for the produc...
Article
Full-text available
The integration of electrodialysis with bipolar membranes (EDBM) with seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) process influences the two main environmental burdens of SWRO desalination process: climate change, accounted here as carbon footprint (CF) and associated to the high-energy consumption, and the environmental alteration of the vicinities of the fac...