Developments in thermoelectric (TE) transparent p-type materials are scarce and do not follow the trend of the corresponding n-type materials – a limitation of the current transparent thermoelectric devices. P-type thermoelectric thin films of CuI have been developed by three different methods in order to maximise optical transparency (>70% in the visible range), electrical (σ = 1.1 × 104 Sm−1) and thermoelectric properties (ZT = 0.22 at 300 K). These have been applied in the first planar fully transparent p-n type TE modules where gallium-doped zinc oxide (GZO) thin films were used as the n-type element and indium thin oxide (ITO) thin films as electrodes. A thorough study of power output in single elements and p-n modules electrically connected in series and thermally connected in parallel is inclosed. This configuration allows for a whole range of highly transparent thermoelectric applications.

Microporous materials highly activated and with potential to be used as adsorbents in many applications for gas
separation/purification are usually available as powders. These solids usually have a great and reversible gas
uptake, high gas selectivity, good chemical and thermal stability, but are unsuitable to be used in gas adsorption
processes, such as Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) or Simulated Moving Bed (SMB).
Zeolites, carbons and more recently metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are examples of those materials. Their
use in adsorption-based processes are dependent of their upgrading from powders (micrometer scale) to
particles (pellets, spheres or granules at millimeter scale). This would overcome large pressure drops and
consequent energy consumptions when packing adsorbent columns in those processes. Thus, shaping
adsorbents is an important step to use them in industry, although it greatly affects their capacity and selectivity
towards a specific gas separation.
In this work, we explore techniques to shape powdered adsorbents, followed by their textural and mechanical
characterizations, and the study of their adsorption properties towards the main components of post-combustion
flues gases (CO2 and N2). Materials densification is proposed by employing two approaches:
- Conventional shaping through binderless mechanical compression and binder-containing extrusion; and
- Formulation by 3D printing (or additive manufacturing) to produce packed bed morphologies that
precisely replicate computer aided design (CAD) models.
Porous separation media are important for fluid-solid contacting in many unit operations, including adsorption.
Due to practical limitations, media particles are typically packed randomly into a column in a shaped form,
allowing fluid to flow through the interstitial voids. Key to the effectiveness of packed columns are the flowrelated properties of mass transfer, fluid distribution and dispersion, and back pressure, which in turn depend
upon packing geometry. Until now, no alternative was found to overcome this limitation and have optimal
ordered packing arrangements at the micron scale. 3D-Printing (or additive manufacturing) brings a wide range
of benefits that traditional methods of manufacturing or prototyping simply cannot. With this approach, complex
ordered geometries, that are not possible by conventional extrusion, can be designed and printed for a porous
media, being the equipment resolution the only limiting step to overcome.
The effect of parameters like compression force, particle sieving, binder nature, binder/adsorbent ratio were
firstly studied using conventional shaping techniques, as a basis for the consequent development of 3D-printed
formulations. The structured samples are then characterized and adsorption equilibria studies are performed on
them to evaluate their performance as media for gas adsorption separation processes. A volumetric/manometric
adsorption unit built in-house was used for this purpose. Relevant experimental data is obtained, which allows to
conclude that 3D-printed media can be an alternative porous media for application in gas adsorption processes.

A MATLAB/SIMULINK software simulation model (structure and component blocks) has been constructed in order to view and analyze the potential of the PSD (Position Sensitive Detector) array concept technology before it is further expanded or developed. This simulation allows changing most of its parameters, such as the number of elements in the PSD array, the direction of vision, the viewing/scanning angle, the object rotation, translation, sample/scan/simulation time, etc. In addition, results show for the first time the possibility of scanning an object in 3D when using an a-Si:H thin film 128 PSD array sensor and hardware/software system. Moreover, this sensor technology is able to perform these scans and render 3D objects at high speeds and high resolutions when using a sheet-of-light laser within a triangulation platform. As shown by the simulation, a substantial enhancement in 3D object profile image quality and realism can be achieved by increasing the number of elements of the PSD array sensor as well as by achieving an optimal position response from the sensor since clearly the definition of the 3D object profile depends on the correct and accurate position response of each detector as well as on the size of the PSD array.

Silver (Ag) and tin (Sn) nanoparticles (NPs) were deposited by thermal evaporation onto heated glass substrates with a good control of size, shape and surface coverage. This process has the advantage of allowing the fabrication of thin-film solar cells with incorporated NPs without vacuum break, since it does not require chemical processes or post-deposition annealing. The X-ray diffraction, TEM and SEM properties are correlated with optical measurements and amorphous silicon hydrogenated (a-Si:H) films deposited on top of both types of NPs show enhanced absorbance in the near-infrared. The results are interpreted with electromagnetic modelling performed with Mie theory. A broad emission in the near-infrared region is considerably increased after covering the Ag nanoparticles with an a-Si:H layer. Such effect may be of interest for possible down-conversion mechanisms in novel photovoltaic devices.