The Instituto de Tecnología Química (ITQ) is a joint research centre created in 1990 by the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) located at the UPV Campus.
The ITQ is an international reference centre in the area of catalysis and new materials, and also in photochemistry. Due to its excellent fundamental and oriented research level and to its multidisciplinary character, the ITQ has the possibility to develop research in different disciplines having an extraordinary flexibility and capability to adapt itself to new research challenges.
The ITQ has specialized personnel as well as forefront facilities for research in the field of chemical technology and materials. It has more than two hundred researchers from all over the World including CSIC and UPV research professors, tenured scientists, invited professors but also engineers, technicians, administrative staff and many post and pre-doctoral students.
The research at ITQ is carried out through Regional, National and European funded grants and also through some projects funded by its own resources. Besides, ITQ obtains a substantial part of its funding from R&D agreements with multinational companies from around the World that corresponds to one third of the total budget.
Finally, part of the revenues of ITQ come from royalties of licensed technologies developed at the institute. ITQ, being a University Institute also offers an appropriate environment for the formation of early stage young researchers and technicians through doctoral theses, masters and specialized training in ITQ mechanical, electronic and engineering shops.
The excellence of ITQ at the National level has been recognized by being granted since 2010 with two consecutive 4-years periods with the Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence award.
UPV was participating in the previous LoterCO2M project giving capability in electrocatalyst syntheses and characterization and membrane modification.
Main Tasks in the Project ECO2Fuel
- Define optimized synthesis routes for the advanced and highly active CRM-free cathodic and anodic catalysts.
- Assist the scale up synthesis of anode and cathode electrocatalysts in semi-pilot and pilot scale.
- Optimize synthetic routes, upscaling parameters and catalysts characterization.
- Assist on the membranes development and ex-situ characterization.
- Give key characterization tools for quality control of binders and additives.