Project ZeroCarb will develop, optimize, and operate an intermediate-temperature catalytic methane splitting (IT-CMS) reactor, with the balance of plant, in a relevant environment (TRL6), using biomethane as feedstock and green electricity. This project follows 112CO2 (GA 952219), which developed the fundamentals for the IT-CMS. It is generally accepted that this reaction, also known as methane decomposition or pyrolysis, will play a critical role in the swift and cost-effective energy transition. Due to this great potential, several different processes have been proposed, and new and existing companies are investing in this technology. IT-CMS technology displays, however, critical advantages over all other technologies: i) avoids the use of special reactor’s envelop materials, since it runs at 750 °C and 1 bar, and is catalytic; ii) when fed with biomethane it produces H2 with a negative CO2 footprint and renewable graphitic carbon; iii) the produced metal-free carbon nanofilaments (mostly MWCNT) are shaved off chemically using H2; iv) the reactor is more energy efficient since it uses a fixed bed; v) the catalyst is activated steel foil, commercially available, which reduces the CAPEX tremendously; vi) the reactor module is expected to display a high power density, ca. 1.5 kW L-1, and energy efficiency > 80 %, and a catalyst high stability >> 8500 h; and vii) low CAPEX plant, significantly cheaper than an SMR plant. ZeroCarb targets the development of a demonstration unit producing 2 kgH2 h-1 (ca. 67 kWH2e) and 6 kgC h-1, based on an activated steel foil packed in a plate and frame module. HyCarb aims to bring this technology into the market and meet industry standards or regulations. The business model will be validated with the two industrial partners, CapWatt for hydrogen exploitation (for refineries and synthesis of ammonia/methanol) and BeDimensional as an off-taker of high-purity carbon (for electrically conductive inks/pastes and electrochemical devices).

PERSEUS intends to implement a novel nanotechnology-based cancer therapy for deep-seated clinically unmanageable, drug-resistant and metastatic tumours. Practical use of nanotechnology in clinical cancer care is still in its infancy with a full potential yet to be realized. The therapy is based on a novel nano-system (NS) made of multifunctional 2D layered nanocrystals. The NS enables, under activation by computed tomography (CT), an effective multimodal therapy with minimal or no adverse effects. This novel paradigm uses CT not to eradicate cancer, but to trigger and to image the NS that locally activates non-mutagenic oncotherapies. The therapies delivered are excited by the conversion of low energy X-rays (i.e., CT) into heat, reactive oxygen species and radiosensitizing agents. X-ray irradiation can also induce immunogenic cell death with the exposure or release of neo-antigens to trigger an anti-cancer immune response. The use of X-rays makes it possible to reach deep-seated tumours that are inaccessible by visible or near-infrared light-based therapies. In other words, CT is the spark that lights the match. This is a radical vision for an ambitious and high-risk project. The current proposal targets a range of cancer types including metastatic triple negative breast cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, colorectal cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The NS is biocompatible and also totally inactive in absence of CT radiation, i.e. the NS becomes active only where the CT beam is delivered so minimizing side effects at distal sites. The therapy is agnostic to the type of cancer and to gender incidence because it doesn't affect the body biochemistry. This is a second change of paradigm. PERSEUS vision is pursued by a multidisciplinary team composed of physicists, chemists, chemical engineers, biologists, physicians, pharmacologists and radiologists working together to develop an innovative nanotechnological approach to address unmet clinical needs.

2D-PRINTABLE aims at using sustainable liquid exfoliation methods to make >40 new 2D-materials (2DMs) and to develop printing and liquid-deposition methods to fabricate nanosheet (NS) networks and heterostructures with unique properties to enable the production of advanced printed digital devices, in perfect alignment with the expected outcomes of the work program. To identify new 2DMs, we will use modelling to survey thousands of possible 2DMs to identify those with superlative electronic properties (conductors, semiconductors, insulators). Layered crystals of these target materials will be synthesized and converted to NSs using various liquid exfoliation techniques. Chemical functionalization will be used to modify and tune NS properties, and to achieve in-situ chemical cross linking. We will develop a range of printing and deposition methods to produce NS networks, employing both physical and chemical routes for strong coupling between adjacent NSs, leading to extremely low junction resistance and hence exceptional network mobility. Going further, we will print/deposit networks of different NSs on top of each other leading to heterostructures with strongly-coupled interfaces for efficient charge injection and transfer. These will be the basis for a range of printed electronic devices (transistors, solar cells or LEDs) with very high performance because of the superlative nanosheet properties, the quality of interfaces and the facile nature of inter-nanosheet charge transfer. For example, we expect to produce printed transistors with gate capacitance >0.4 mF/cm2, transconductance >0.1 mS/sq, Ion/Ioff ratio >10e6, mobility ~100 cm2/Vs with the latter value x10-100 times greater than the state-of-the-art in printed electronics. The knowledge developed in 2D-PRINTABLE will be instrumental for future emerging technologies in energy storage, health and environmental monitoring as well as water purification, to ultimately address most of today’s global challenges.

The decarbonization of the energy sector to mitigate climate change is a key challenge for the European Union (EU). This mandates a rapid and widespread implementation of a clean and affordable energy infrastructure in which photovoltaics (PV) will be a main pillar. Currently, PV represents only a small fraction of the global energy supply and PV modules are almost exclusively imported from outside the EU, associated with supply risks and a high CO2-footprint. Emerging perovskite PV has a tremendous potential to overcome these issues and revolutionise the EU energy sector. To unfold this potential, the DIAMOND project joins 6 European leading universities (UGroningen, UUppsala, EPFL, URome-TV, UPorto, UMarburg), 2 research institutes (Fraunhofer ISE, CEA) and 4 industry partners (Dyenamo, BeDimensional, Solaronix, PixelVoltaic) from 7 different countries to develop ultra-stable, highly-efficient and low-cost perovskite PV with minimised environmental impact. To achieve stabilities far beyond all previous achievements of PV solar cells, the project targets to develop novel hermetic encapsulation approaches and highly stable device designs that are evaluated by standardized and novel stability assessment methods. DIAMOND also aims to optimise materials and cell stacks to reach efficiencies exceeding the record values of silicon PV. Fully printable module architectures are targeted for rapid industrial up-scaling, allowing for lowest manufacturing costs and local production in the EU. To minimise the ecological impact, specific device designs that enable lowest CO2-footprint, material criticality and toxicity together with enhanced recyclability are targeted. Combining these ambitions, DIAMOND strives to provide a strong impact on the EUs future environmental, economic and societal development, paving the way for an EU-made sustainable energy technology with lowest CO2-footprint that ensures a full integration into the circular economy.

A paradigm shift in energy storage technology is needed to support the transition towards the climate-neutrality set by the EU’s international commitments under the Paris Agreement, while ensuring the targets of EU’s Action Plan on Critical Raw Materials (CRMs). In this context, GREENCAP joins a multi-disciplinary consortium with 5 Universities, 1 R&D Institute, 6 companies, located in 7 European countries (including Italy, Germany, France, Ireland, United Kingdom, Estonia, and Netherlands) and 1 non-EU country (Ukraine), to unlock the full potential of supercapacitors (SCs) as electrochemical energy storage systems. We will develop a CRM-free technology exhibiting a battery-like energy density (>20 Wh/kg, >16 Wh/L), together with the distinctive superior power densities and high cycle life of traditional electrochemical double layer capacitors. GREENCAP will exploit layered 2D materials, including graphene and MXenes as electrode materials, and ionic liquids (ILs) as high-voltage electrolyte. The main objectives of GREENCAP are: i) to syntheses/functionalize graphene and MXenes via facile, scalable and sustainable (CRM-free) methodologies, assuring both high surface area and ion accessibility, introducing Faradaic charge storage mechanisms, and improving their quantum capacitance; ii) to produce novel non-/low-toxic and non-/low-flammable IL-based electrolyte with high conductivities, and a high electrochemical/thermal stability, ensuring SC operation at voltage > 3.5 V within -50°C to +100 °C temperature range, thus eliminating the need for sophisticated cooling systems; iii) to validate the novel SC technology at industrial scale by fabricating cylindrical cells at a TRL 6 while ensuring the creation/existence of the complete value chain from material to cell producers; iv) to produce a novel supercapacitor management system, enabling the full potential of the GREECAP’s SCs in high-end applications, and ensuring their integration into the circular economy.