May 8, 2026
From May 3rd to 8th, Carolina Pulignani (Leitat) represented ALGAESOL at the prestigious Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Renewable Energy: Solar Fuels in Lucca, Italy. Carolina presented a poster and delivered a selected 10-minute talk on a key challenge in scaling up solar fuel technology: maintaining material stability when moving from lab scale to larger applications.
“Overall, it was honestly one of the best conferences I have ever attended,” Carolina shared. “The open, interactive atmosphere made it very easy to exchange ideas with both early-career researchers and well-established professors in a relaxed and equal environment.”
The presentation focused on how light intensity and applied potential affect the stability of photoanode materials. Key points included:
- Reactor Design: Smart reactor engineering is required to maintain system stability during the upscaling process.
- Scale Re-evaluation: Standard laboratory testing conditions based on small-area photoelectrodes (below 1 cm²) must be re-evaluated when moving to larger illuminated areas above 10 cm².
- System Integration: Material behavior changes when larger photoanodes are coupled with different cathodic systems, such as the biohybrid and dark cathodes being developed within ALGAESOL.
Understanding these scaling dynamics is critical for ALGAESOL, as solving these stability and design challenges directly enables the transition of our biohybrid technology from controlled lab experiments into viable, large-scale renewable energy systems.
Presenting these findings at a major international venue also strengthens the project’s communication and dissemination goals. Sharing our progress with leading global experts enhances ALGAESOL’s visibility within the scientific community, fosters potential collaborations, and positions the consortium at the forefront of solar fuels research.
