Albert holds M.Sc. and PhD in Physics from the University of Barcelona (2001, 2007) and M. Eng. in Materials Science from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (2007). He worked as research associate at the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona (ES) and as visiting researcher at the University of Oslo (NO), Imperial College London (UK) and Caltech (USA). In 2010, Albert gained a Ramon y Cajal Fellowship and joined the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) as the Head of the Nanoionics and Fuel Cells Group. Currently, he is ICREA Professor at IREC and leads a group of 20+ people devoted to nanomaterials for alternative energy technologies and their applicability in powering portable devices and hydrogen/synthetic fuels production. He has been principal investigator of 9 EU research projects, including one ERC-Consolidator Grant and two H2020 coordinated projects (FET Proactive and FCH JU), attracting a total amount of 15+ M€.

Research interests

The research work carried out by Albert is in advanced materials for energy applications. In particular, he has been developing innovative concepts for improving the performance of different solid state energy devices such as Solid Oxide Fuel and Electrolysis Cells (SOFC/SOEC), ThermoElectric Generators (TEGs) or Li-ion batteries for energy storage and portable power applications. In the last years, Albert has been specifically developing new concepts for the unexplored field of Nanoionics. Nanoionics is called to drive a new revolution similarly to Nanoelectronics, underlining the relevance of size effects and interfaces on mass transfer, transport and storage. Albert’s group is pioneer in implementing interface-dominated nanomaterials in real devices for radically new applications. In this direction, he was recently awarded with an ERC CoG to implement disruptive Nanoionics concepts in Si-integrated micro-SOFC technology and a FET Proactive project on new micro energy technologies.